Ghosts of Winterfell
by Valaena The Historyteller
Summary: Remember what the swords in Winterfell s crypts are for? When Jon and Robb played the ghost joke on their siblings, one of the swords fell off it s statue, releasing a supernatural menace who will make live on the castle much more difficult, outing some of our favourite Lord s secrets and making his fishy Lady s live hell. Ghost! Lyanna fic.
1. Chapter 1

Hello there! I´m Valaena. I recently became addicted to A world of ice and Fire fanfics after reading the books and decided, why not writting one of my own. Well, I hope you like it, because it took a lot of effort to writte it. Might I add it´s not for Catelyn´s fans? Look, I don´t have anything against the woman, but she threated Jon like a bug in her home in the bookverse, so... I guess you can empathise with her a little because of the lies Ned fed to her in the show, but no need to take it out on the kid, no? Well, enjoy it!  
A song of ice and Fire belongs to George R. R. Martin 

"Shhhhhhh, I´m bringing them" Robb said, leaving Jon hidding behind the statue of a young woman, their aunt Lyanna. The younger of the two listened carefully, trying to notice when his brother would be inside with the rest of their siblings. His hand brushed the statue for a second and he felt some strange feeling of sadness overcome him. he looked up for a second, trying to discover something in the stone woman´s face. Nothing. Perhaps that has been just his imagination.

"… I promise you it´s true, father told me there was a ghost down in the crypts" Robb´s voice brought him out of his mind. There were several sets of feet stepping in the dusty stone floor of the Stark grave. "I so wanted to meet him or her…"

"Then why don´t you go down there on your own? Or better, with Jon or the Horseface here" said Sansa in her usual tone. For a second Jon considered emptying his second sack of flour over his least favourite sister, but it was something he would never do. Besides, lady Catelyn would never forgive him for what he was about to do. Well, at least she didn´t call him a bastard, he thought angrily while he waited to her to be close enough to scare. "Such a dirty place is not fit for a lady."

"This is the place of our forbearers you know" the oldest Stark now was a little bit tempted to empty the flour sack in her head himself. "If the ghost is here, then it heard you and is going to curse you. You will have him following you the rest of your live. And your future children will be also seeing the ghost until…"

"Stop it!" the angry redhead shoved her brother out of her path, growling. This was by far the most inappropriate thing he has been doing in a while and that was much to say. After all, the septa always say a lady must always be proper. "I´m getting out of here. Your stupid ghost does not interest me in the slightest and I…" suddenly something white appeared out of nowhere, scaring the propriety out of her. "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHH!" Bran and Arya followed them. A laughter coming from Robb and the ghost joining him told them they have been utterly fooled, calming them down enough to notice it was their brother, covered in flour. Sansa was about to say another nasty thing, but her older brother choose that moment to grab the second sack and pour it over her head. After all, she had it coming.

"ROBB! YOU UTTER FOOL! I´M GOING TO TELL MOTHER THIS INSTANT AND YOU ARE GOING TO BE PUNISHED!" the older girl raged out of the crypts, shrieking like a banshee and throwing at them her sewing basket, which she brought with herself. Her siblings stayed there, silent. After a few more moments, the other female start laughing, reassuming the calm atmosphere.

"Oh, gods, this was epic" the little Stark said, hugging her brunette brother, then punching him in the gut. "Don´t even try that again! I mean… don´t try to scare me, because showering Sansa in flour is another thing" she smiled wickedly. "Perhaps I should try too!"

"Don´t even think about it"

"But she needs to be taught a lesson! Besides it´s funny!"

"You are right, but if you do it, your mother will know and force you to endure more of Septa Mordane´s sermons about the Seven Pointed Star. Do you want to stay hours inside listening to the Septa reading the most boring book in human history when you can be outside riding your horse?" she shook her head quickly. "Then don´t even try it."

"I promise" Jon was sure that she was already thinking a way to mess with Sansa that wouldn´t land her punished by her mother. Something he should think about right now, because unless he thought quickly, he was going to end up punished by Lady Catelyn. And in a way far less pleasurable than the one she used on her children.

"We should get inside before Sansa tells something to your Lady Mother" the children left the place, with no care in the world. But they would no stay in that way for much longer, as they didn´t notice something awry in the crypt. A few minutes after the youngsters left the graveyard, a loud sound interrupted it´s calmness. Lyanna´s sword felt to the ground. It has been hit by the thrown sewing kit. But inside the castle no one could hear it. Specially with Sansa´s screams.

"Mother! Robb and Jon played an awful joke to me in the crypts!" Catelyn´s precious jewel complained to her, making the Tully woman stop in her tracks. Rage overcame her, the bastard was corrupting her adorable children. And tormenting her daughter, her closest child, the perfect little lady of her eyes.

"Don´t worry, sweetheart" the older redhead patted her now white hair. "Why don´t you go get a bath and change clothes? I will talk to your father after dinner about your half brother´s latest prank."

"It was Robb the one that emptied the damn thing over my head, so he deserved a punishment too"

"And he will have one" she assured, thinking about what she should do to purge her firstborn from the bastard´s influence. Perhaps she should order him to clean up the stables… after she managed to convince Ned to send the mistake away. Maybe she can send him all the way back to Dorne. "Don´t worry, my sweet." Later, after she delivered punishment to the boys, being harsher with Jon than with Robb, the woman went straight towards her husband. "Milord, we need to talk."

"Really?" oh, that formality meant trouble. Cat hasn´t been that proper with him since the early days of their marriage. "I heard Robb and Jon got into trouble down in the crypts in the afternoon, it´s about that?"

"Partially" his wife answered.

"I have time after dinner, do you want to come to my solar to discuss it tonight?" Catelyn nodded, straightening her dress. Whatever happened that night, she was going to have that bastard punished for all his misdeeds. She entered the dinning hall with her head held high, not knowing that stronger forces were working against her. Back down in the crypts, in the solitude of the night, two lights emerged from the stone recipient that held the lady Lyanna´s remains. Two little, shinny lights that moved on their own, floating towards the entrance of the cave. And into the dinning hall. And solar. "Cat…"

"No, Ned" she said, gritting her teeth. "Have you not listened to what happened in the afternoon? Robb dumped a whole sack of flour over his sister´s head right after your bastard scared her in a cruel manner" the redhead continued. "and I am sure Robb would never even think about doing that if the boy…"

"Catelyn, you are getting think out of proportion, they were just two boys making a prank" Eddard tried to calm her down. He knew his wife and nephew didn´t get on with each other, but, for gods sake, the woman could be more understanding. Boys will be boys and it was just a harmless prank, much like the ones his brother and sister played on him and Brandon when growing up. "No one was hurt and they already apologized for scaring the little ones. Jon even went down to the crypts again to recover Sansa´s sewing kit."

"It is not enough! Our daughter could have been hurt or mentally scarred! And that´s probably what he intended in the first place!" she was furious. Why did her husband avoid to see it? Bastards were always jealous of their trueborn siblings and, as beings born of sin and lust, sought to cause them harm to steal what was rightfully theirs. "He targeted Sansa now, who will he hurt next?"

"That´s plainly your paranoia speaking and I´m not going to allow you to spread more poisonous words about him without cause. This conversation is over."

"Ned…"

"It´s over, Catelyn, leave it that way. I´m not sending my son away or permitting you to punish him when he was just acting like any other boy" the man turned around, ready to leave the room. "I bid you goodnight, milady"

"Goodnight then, milord" but this was far from over, she will make sure of that. The bastard will not cause more harm to her precious children... in a corner of the room, the two orbs of light were watching the scene, invisible to any who would look. They were trembling, emitting something very much like anger, just… stronger. And it was all directed to the Lady of the Castle. Following her, they entered the part of the castle where the family slept. The Tully woman took a turn towards her children´s bedrooms, only to see a tall figure exciting her youngest daughter´s rooms. Her anger was immediately ignited. "What were you doing in Lady Arya´s room?"

"Ahhh… Lady Catelyn…" Jon tried to think of an excuse quickly. In reality, it was not his fault. And he hasn´t done anything to Arya. It was just… well, it was a combination of things. First he has been convinced by Robb to stay in the dinning room later than usual to steal some leftover lemon cakes. He was rarely allowed to eat sweets, so he stupidly complied. After that, he was ready for bed, but, as usual, Arya was not. His little sister couldn´t go sleep without hearing one of his bedtime histories, so he daily went to her before Lady Catelyn went to check on her children and tell her one. He tried to convince her otherwise, knowing that if he was caught here he would be in a big problem, but she refused to hear. And thus, he stayed to tell her a history and here were the consequences. "I didn´t do anything wrong"

"Save your saliva for another, bastard, because I don´t believe anything that comes out of your lying mouth" Catelyn walked towards her husband´s illegitimate child, grabbing a huge part of his hair when she was close enough. "You are telling me this instant what you were planning to do to my daughter or I…"

"He wasn´t doing anything, mother" Robb exited Arya´s room. His mother released the boy immediately. She knew that with her precious child presence, the cowardly bastard wouldn´t dare to do anything, her boy wouldn´t consent it. "This is all my fault. I convinced him to help me steal some lemon cakes, that´s why he was late for Arya´s bedtime history and couldn´t get out before you came."

"Arya´s… bedtime history?" said Catelyn perplexed. Her youngest daughter never asked her to tell her a bedtime history. Why would she ask her bastard half-brother to do it?

"Yes. Every night after dinner, Jon goes to Arya´s room to tell her a bedtime history. She can´t sleep without it" the auburn haired boy told her, while Jon scrambled, hiding in the darkness before Lady Stark turns her attention back to her. "He is usually back in his room before you notice him, but tonight I… don´t make me repeat it."

"Why… why is HE being asked to do it? He is not trustworthy enough…" that must be why Arya´s behaviour was taking a turn for the worst. The bastard must be corrupting her through those seemingly innocuous bedtime histories… "If she wanted a history, she should have asked me or Old Nan to…"

"Oh, she did, but you never listened to her when she told you she hated the histories you tell her and Old Nan is taking care of Bran and Rickon" Robb approached his mother, who, for once, was speechless. "She is not Sansa, mother, you shouldn´t threat her like she was. The poor thing is bored and tired of those stupid tales about princesses and princes Sansa likes so much. That´s why it´s Jon and no you the one she chose to."

"But… but those are the kind of tales a young girl…"

"Mother… let´s discuss this in other place, shall we?" the boy sighed, noticing his brother still there. Deciding that he would be the one to deal with his mother that night, he waved to the boy. "Goodnight, Jon"

"Goodnight, brother" the other boy took his opportunity to leave, avoiding punishment from at least a few hours. He practically ran to his room, barring his door when he was inside. The teen breathed in and out, recovering from his encounter with Lady Stark. After a few seconds, Jon managed to snap out of it, proceeding to put some trunks in his chimney and setting fire to it. He rubbed his arms, trying to warm himself. Lady Stark always limited the amount of wood he could use for his room, so the place was cold during his absences, but he didn´t care. Waiting for the temperature to adjust was something he was used to. And it gave him time to think. "I wonder where you are… mother" he grabbed a paper from a table. It has a picture of a woman, the one he sees in his dreams. "Are you blond or raven? Beautiful or not so much? Did you loved him?" he sighed, finally changing and getting into bed. "Do you love me?"

"My beautiful boy" a voice sounded in the darkness, as beautiful woman appeared. She was made of light, with a hair that reached her waist and a warmth only a mother could possess. The ghost extended his hand towards him, caressing his messy raven hair. "My dear perfect prince."

"My dear" a man with the kind of ghostly glow, fingering a ghostly harp. He started playing the soft notes of a sad song, a lullaby made to make kids go to sleep. This helped the boy in the bed to sleep deeper, comfortable with the presence of the protective ghosts. "You are our song of ice and fire."

"Eddard promised me" she said when her companion finally was over and picking some new tune to play. "He promised me on my deathbed, he promised me he would be fine and well taken care of… yet he lets that woman mistreat him like he is some sort of… criminal" the frown in the female´s face deepened. "She won´t do it anymore"

"Lya…"

"I won´t let her"

-The next day-

"Good morning" Jon saluted after entering the main hall, where a frowning Lady Stark was waiting for him. He lowered his head. Apparently, the talk with Robb didn´t go as well as he hoped. And his father was not yet there to protect him from her mood. For safety´s sake, he went to lower tables after serving himself some porridge and started eating. His brother suddenly joined him, making him raise his head. "What are you doing here? Go back to your place before your mother skins me alive."

"She won´t. Father heard us arguing last night about you and was very crossed with her. That´s the reason she is angry" he sighed. "Apparently, they also fought before she found you exiting Arya´s room. I don´t know what it was about exactly, but from their expressions I can tell it concerned…"

"Me" oh, great. He was the reason of two fights in the same day, splendid. Who knows what Lady Catelyn will have him do to ease her anger.

"Sorry. Have I known, I would never have argued with her" Robb apologized, knowing that his mother would discharge her wrath on Jon´s head. "If you want to leave the fort while it´s still save, I can cover for you."

"No, I would never do such a cowardly act" the dark haired boy returned to his meal, trying to eat as fast as he could to get away from his step mother and her heated glare. Besides, as fast as she delivered the punishment, the sooner he would finish with that. Then he remembered something. "Hey, where is Sansa? I have to congratulate her, her skills in high harp have improved greatly."

"What? The last time I heard her, the poor instrument wanted to fly out of her arms" the Stark heir answered, shaking his head. It was true after all, his sister should stick to singing.

"Wasn´t she practising in the corridor last night?"

"If she were, then none of us would have been able to sleep" answered Robb, remembering the last time the auburn haired girl had the brilliant idea to do so. After such an experience and a sleep deprived Rickon gave her hell, Lady Catelyn forbid her from doing so. Since then, the only one that had to endure her terrible music abilities was poor Septa Mordane. "Why were you asking?"

"I think I heard someone playing the high harp last night" Jon said, not knowing from where the hell that came from. "But I was deep asleep, so… I don´t know. Perhaps it was only a memory I didn´t know I had."

"Let´s see… did it sound like the instrument was being killed?"

"Nope. In fact, the person playing it knew what he or she was doing. Too much, I think."

"Then it wasn´t Sansa. Maybe it was Septa Mordane, but I don´t remember any time she let you sit or even listen to her playing" Robb bit his lip. "Maybe not, she is not the best of players"

"Have you ever heard someone that was really good in it?"

"Nope" answered the Stark. "and I don´t remember the last time Father employed musicians"

"When Lord Manderly was visiting" answered Jon, smiling when he remembered how the fat lord introduced the whole family to lamprey pie. "In fact, it was Lord Manderly who brought the musicians. I remembered when one let me use his high harp" his fingers itched with the memory. "It was a fun afternoon."

"Yes… specially because you are a better player than Sansa" they finished with their meals and went on to their lessons. They were about to meet master Luwin in his study when Lady Stark appeared. She was less than pleased to see them together. "Mother…"

"Go on to your lessons, Robb" she instructed her son, then turned to her stepson. "Once you get out of there, instead of joining Ser Rodrick for training, you are going straight to the kennels and help the kennelsmaster to clean all the place. And I don´t want to hear anyone saying you were anywhere but there, do you understand?"

"Yes, milady"

"And from now on, you are forbidden from entering my children´s rooms" she informed him. "It´s unbecoming of a young lord or lady to have their bastard half-brother entering their rooms and I won´t have you ruining my daughter´s reputations by entering their chambers in the middle of the night. Are we clear?" the woman expected a protest, perhaps on the lines that Arya can´t get to sleep without a history or what should he do now before bed, but there was none. Well, she told to herself, at least the boy knows his place. It was a little bit simpler to deal with that kind of bastards. "Go now"

"By your leave" Jon Snow went away, not noticing the light orb near him trembling with barely hidden rage at the woman. Catelyn turned around and left, thinking about her list of duties, not noticing the orb was gone. The auburn haired lady took a turn in an enclosed passage near her husband´s solar, when a particularly heavy statue felt and nearly crushed her. In fact, she was barely able to jump to the side.

"What was that… Cat!" Eddard came running out of his solar, tending his hands to her to lift her form from the floor. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yes… I… I am" the Tully looked at the place her body has been before the accident. "That… the statue nearly felt on me. It could have killed me if…"

"Nothing happened, Cat. We should be grateful for that" Ned hugged his trembling wife. Deciding she needed a break to get over the scare, he pulled her towards the place he just excited. "Come with me, my love. I have some wine we could share to help you get the tension out of your body."

"Ye… Yeah" the Lady kept staring at the place. Somehow, she didn´t know how, she knew this was related with the bastard. Her fingers balled into fists when she entered the solar, a decision made in her mind. That bastard needs to go, before he murders someone. And she was going to be the one to expel him from this halls.

What do you think? Hope you enjoyed it. I´m going to be posting next time I can, but I´m not sure I can made it this week... perhaps this sunday or past it. And please send your reviews, I really need some ideas on how to continue this.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! It´s me again. Sorry for keeping you waiting, I was doing something really importante and running out of time. But here it is! Teh long awaited second chapter I promised. Hope you like it!

A song of ice and fire is not mine.

"Catelyn, you are exaggerating. Jon couldn´t possible have thrown that thing over you. He was in the training yard when that happened" said Eddard, trying to reason with his hysteric wife to no avail. She kept on blaming Jon for her problems, even if the boy was leagues away from her at the moment of the crime. He breathed in and out before continuing, but the Tully woman was completely beyond reason… well, he couldn´t actually blame her for this. Her life had recently become a series of unfortunate accidents no one can explain. "You have already heard Sir Rodrik, the boy was with Robb in the training yard when that gargoyle nearly crushed you."

"I don´t care what he said, I know it was him" insisted the redhead, glaring at her husband. Had her handmaiden not pushed her away, that stone creature would have killed her. This was something that could only benefit the bastard. With her gone, her dear boy will be left alone, without her counselling, and her husband vulnerable to the wicked thing´s machinations. "It could have only been him."

"How?" Ned continued trying to reason with her. "You already heard our castellan´s testimony, a man that we trust with our lives. And Robb´s and Theon´s too. How did he managed to be in two places at the same time?"

"Do I have to care about that? What I really want to know is how to stop him" the woman bit her fingernail, looking around her, completely paranoid. Her husband just sighed, completely giving up trying to reason with her. "He must have found a way to trick Ser Rodrik to believe he was in the yard when…"

"Ser Rodrik was training the boys and he never takes his eyes away from them when they are practising, specially if it´s with tourney swords" Lord Stark turned around. "Seriously, Catelyn, you need to stop blaming Jon for everything bad that happens in your live. He isn´t a bad boy."

"Of course he is, all bastards are" the southern woman answered, her husband sighing again and leaving the place. The redhead didn´t try to stop him. She needed to change, anyway, as her clothes were full of dirt and slime from her fall, so he better leaves her alone.

Ned, for his part, took a stroll through the yard, catching a glimpse of the boys sparring. As always, Jon was beating the other two with his skills. The Lord stopped as his bastard son made a move with his arm, making the sword fly from Robb´s hand. He lifted his eyes in that moment, a ray of sun hitting them. And for a second, a purpuric colour painted them. Oh, gods, that purple. It transported him back to the Trident, where his deceased good brother fell after Robert hit him square in the chest with his hammer. Something that could happen to his son if he wasn´t careful.

"Jon" he called for the boy, making him raise his head. He seemed insecure, his eyes darkening to their usual greys when the sun stopped kissing his face. "You are getting better, son. I wish I could say the same for the others. You still have that bad habit of holding your sword badly, Robb."

"…" the boy went beat red, hiding his hand behind his back.

"Hey, don´t worry, I had tones of bad habits when I was young. You still have enough time to correct them before entering to battle" he smiled, calming his firstborn. "But you have to practice or the sword will keep escaping your hand."

"Yes, father"

"And you, Theon" continued the older male, diverting his attention to the snickering ironborn. "You should keep your own hands in check. If you continue to grasp your sword like you do a bow, you will find yourself with a blade through the bowels in your first fight" the boy turned a deep shade of crimson that second, making the other boys chuckle. Then he remembered something. "Jon… come here"

"Yes, father?" asked the boy, keeping his head low as was proper for a bastard when addressing a nobleman. Ned hated to see his son feeling inferior, really, but also liked that posture. The way he held his head when he was in that position made him unable to see the purple tint in his eyes and remember the tragedy of the Tower of Joy.

"Lady Catelyn is very upset lately, you should get out of her way. You know how fond she is to blame you for everything bad that happens to her" he nodded, knowing that too well. "Don´t worry, in a day or two she will forget" as if that can happen, thought Jon broodingly. Catelyn Tully will never forget or forgive his existence. "Luwin already said you can take extra lessons in your free time if you want a suggestion."

"Yes, father" Eddard felt guilt eating his insides. Jon already took more than enough extra lessons just to stay out of his wife´s way to put Robb a year behind him in knowledge. And let´s not talk about Theon.

"And be careful when you go into Arya´s room tonight. She is also getting more paranoid about your closeness with your siblings." Again, wonderful. "Now go back to Ser Rodrik, he is already missing the presence of his favourite student."

"Aye. Good day, father" the boy ran away towards his training companions, a wooden sword in his hands. And for a few seconds, he was able to see a completely different person, clad in some letter breeches, long hair to the wind. A name escaped from his lips, whispered with nostalgia. "Lyanna"

"My Lord?" Jory appeared from behind him, worried. "Maester Luwin asks for your presence. There are urgent news from Deepwood Mote. Apparently Lord Glover started a land dispute with House…"

"I get it, I´m going now" he walked away, still with images of his sister and her son in his mind. He pushed them away with strength. This was not the time to be a loving brother, dutiful father or protective uncle, he needed to be Lord of Winterfell now. He arrived to the maester´s tower two minutes later, feeling a little bit tired. "Maester Luwin, I heard that lord Glover…"

"Yes, but that can wait" the old man moved from where he was towards a table where an old paper laid. He took it carefully, like it was a dragon egg. "I found this in an old book, below the floor stones." He showed it to Ned, who took it. The name on the bottom of the letter was the first thing that caught his attention. "Imagine my surprise when I discovered who this belonged to."

"Lyanna?" Ned asked, his hand trembling. He read the letter once… and again and again. Then again and he still couldn´t believe it. This was the letter his sister swore she had written from Riverrun before leaving the family, explaining her plans to leave willingly with Rhaegar. "Maester…"

"You don´t look surprised. Guess you already know about the contents?" the man didn´t answer, but the truth was in his expression. "I think we should talk" Luwin said with a calm expression. He was surprised about the contents of the letter, but knew how to manage it. "But before we do, I´m going to tell you that I understand."

"What?"

"I understand" the aging master repeated, more confident. "I understand why you have never told the king about your sister´s true feelings about him." Ned looked straight at the old man, suddenly uncomfortable. Yes, he hid Lyanna´s feelings from Robert with a good reason, but it was Jon´s survival, not the possible temper tantrum his idiot friend might throw. But now that he thought about it, if he had told something, the king might have exterminated House Stark just because of that. "You did the right thing, my lord."

"Where did you find it?" he asked, really interested in where the damn thing have been during the Rebellion it could have avoided.

"It was in a book on the top of the bookshelf" said the maester, lifting the object. "I was cleaning up the place, when I noticed something strange over it. I pulled the book and opened it only to find the letter" he shook the thing. "It belonged to maester Walys."

"Walys?" his hummor soured at hearing that name. The man was a viper who poisoned his father´s mind, making him thing southern alliances were the key to get more power, that he needed more of that and influence in the south… even if they costed the support of the northern houses, who disliked lord Rickard´s policies. But that didn´t explain why he hid Lyanna´s letter. "What was he doing with the letter?"

"It seems he intercepted it before it could get to your father´s or brother´s hands" the man answered with some distaste. Apparently, he also disliked the snake. "I didn´t knew the man personally, but I heard what the other pupils said about him. Before joining the order, Walys Flowers was known for his illegal acts."

"You mean he was a criminal?" Eddard asked with interest. "How was he allowed to study at the Citadel if he was some low bastard born criminal?"

"His father was an Archmaester and his mother a Hightower" explained the maester. "They used all their influences to get him inside and then gave him the highest position they could think about."

"Maester of the Starks"

"Exactly" Luwin passed a hand through the book again. "Anyway, I can´t claim to know what was in Walys mind, but I can tell maester of a Lord Paramount was not the highest he wanted to achieve."

"Then the man got a fitting ending" Ned said, clutching the letter in his hands. He tried then to toss it on the fire, but then Jon´s image running towards his brothers appeared on his mind. He should… he should keep it to show it to him. Someday. "Was there anything else that required my presence here, maester?"

"Well, now that you are talking about it, Galbart Glover wrote to us about a little land dispute he had with the Tallharts. Apparently, there are disagreements about where the frontiers between the territories of the two houses laid…"

Ned listened a little bit bored. And angry. He had enough problems on his own for his bannermen to try and push their own problems onto him. not that they know about them, but with a nephew he had to hide to save his life, a letter from his dead sister explaining her reasons to run away and a wife who is getting madder by the day, his vase was quickly being filled.

"Are you listening to me, milord?"

"Yes" he answered sleepily. "Continue"

In the corner of the room, Rhaegar Targaryen tried to catch his goodbrother´s attention by any means possible, as he has been trying to do all day. Someone less persistent would have stopped a few hours but when your wife was trying to kill her good sister, the mother of five children, you can only do the right thing. After all, the children didn´t deserve to lose their mother just because she was a harpy. Yes, he thought the woman was a bitch that should burn in the seven hells, but her children were nice enough to make him rethink his options.

Anyway, he should get to work right now, before Lyanna throws something bigger than a gargoyle over the Tully lady. But gods, this was so frustrating. Being a ghost was not his thing. His wife was a natural, but he? He couldn´t even push a paper off a table. And this made him so frustrated and angry and…

"Gods, is there a window open?" Ned asked his maester, shivering a bit. Being a Stark raised in the North, the cold shouldn´t bother him, but right now the temperature was dropping like there was a White Walker on the place.

"No, I´m pretty sure they are all closed" answered the old man, trying to cover himself. "Maybe the hearth needs some more firewood"

Did he do that? Rhaegar looked at his fingers and, for the flick of a moment, he could see himself in a mirror in the opposite side of the room. Willing to prove his theory, the Targaryen prince concentrated in the feelings he was experiencing right before the cooling event and moved towards the table. He pushed a stock of paper and…

"There must definitely be an open window" said Luwin, walking to the place to order the fallen documents. Finally, he thought, finally he did the trick.

-In another place-

"Arya Stark! You are doing it all wrong!" Septa Mordane screamed, admonishing the younger Stark girl as always, being answered with just a frown. The woman sneered. That sorry excuse for a girl won´t ever become a proper lady.

"Why should I do it? It was her who wanted to learn, not me" the brunette said in a daring tone. By her side, Sansa passed her delicate fingers through the harp, ignoring her wild sister the best she could. She had some reason now, but that didn´t gave her the right to act like a brat.

The thing was that she finally convinced her lady mother to allow Septa Mordane to give her some music lessons in addition to the sewing and dancing ones. Catelyn accepted, but she put the condition that she had to share them with her sister. Arya, of all people. She begrudgingly accepted, thinking that it would not be so bad. She was wrong. Arya played the high harp as if she was gutting some poor animal. And it was worse than usual, because that distracted Sansa too and didn´t let her be her usual perfect lady.

"Arya Stark!"

"I don´t need to play the high harp anyway! Not all ladies play harps!" the Septa was about to answer when someone barged into the room. To everyone´s surprise, it was Jon. Yes, Jon. The very same member of the family that would never dare to get near the septa.

"What´s going on here?" he asked, trying to avoid the old woman´s glare of righteous anger. "I knew the voice is an instrument to make music, but I was never told that screaming could be considered some kind of musical talent."

"What do you know about music? Begone, before I told Lady Stark that you interrupted our lesson today" said Mordane, being eagerly backed up by Sansa, who also wished for him to take the musically deaf Arya away so she could continue with her lesson.

"I… don´t know anything about music, but so does my sister, so don´t be mean to her" he approached Arya, his favourite sibling, who stood in a corner with a smug look. Sansa might be their mother´s favourite, but she was Jon´s and that counts for more in her mind. After all, the red haired girl wasn´t anyone favourite sister. "Are you alright?"

"My fingers hurt from that thing" she said, showing him her red fingers. He examined them and noticed they throbbed. She was hurt enough for a few days. "And the Septa was forcing us to play that awful Lannister song, the Rains of Castamere, and I didn´t want to. At all."

"You, insolent girl…"

"Septa, I think she needs an example her own age. Why don´t you let her see Sansa play first?" he asked, making the woman´s face go red. Who dis he thought he was? Jon saw her reaction and quickly changed his tactic. "Look at her fingers, septa, she is hurt. And if you don´t believe me, I can call my father, so he can address the matter."

"That won´t be necessary" she answered, swallowing her words like bitter medicine. "Lady Arya, go to the corner and listen from there. It should be enough example for you to learn from."

"It´s not use, I´m terrible at this. The worst of all" and she didn´t care, but Arya kept that part inside of her.

"The worst? I can´t believe my little sister is the worst at something" answered Jon, crashing Sansa´s and Arya´s wishes for her to leave the class. And he didn´t notice it, because he smiled at the younger one. "How about this? I take the lesson for you along with Sansa, so you can see that there is someone worse than you at this."

"You, bastard…"

"Let him, septa" said Sansa, eager to show her half-brother his place. After all, how could a low bastard be better than a trueborn lady? Perhaps this way he would go away and take that little pest Arya with him. "He can´t do it better than me anyway."

"Of course he can´t" she answered, glaring at Jon again. "What are you waiting for? Take a sit" he did it, putting his little sister´s high harp in position. He found out he was strangely comfortable with it, as if his body was made to play the instrument. The teacher did the same, positioning her fingers in the first key. "Okay, let´s begin again. Lady Sansa, please."

Sansa started playing first. No one could say she was doing it fine, even for a beginner, but she wasn´t doing it terrible either. At least not like Arya. And she wasn´t hopeless. Pleased, the septa ordered her to stop and gave the bastard the opportunity, willing to show the girls the superiority of trueborn against bastard. Surprisingly, when Jon began to play, he actually managed to produce something that sounded like the Rains of Castamere. A little bit too well for a beginner. At the end, all the looks in the room were concentrated in him. Arya was smug, Sansa and Mordane dumbfounded. And Jon too. How could he, a bastard, play better than a trueborn lady? Could it be that he had some hidden musical talent?

They tried again and again, with him earning the victory every time. But this just fuelled Sansa´s competitive spirit. She couldn´t let a lowborn bastard be better than her. It was like admitting defeat against Jon or, gods forbid, Arya. She couldn´t let Arya be better than her. And her teacher was thinking exactly the same way.

"Stop" the septa ordered, tired of her best student being proved inferior against a bastard. "Let´s proceed with another musical ability you need to study: Singing." She passed the lyrics of the Rains of Castamere to each of the three. "you can participate in this as you don´t have to use your fingers, Lady Arya."

"Yes" the girl answered with bad humour. How she hated this lady classes… her time could be of more use outside, ridding or learning to fight.

Anyway, they waited in line to sing to septa Mordane. Sansa had a pretty voice, obtaining a passable from the septa. Arya´s singing sounded more like dogs barking and there was no way to change it, so the woman told her to just continue with the harp. Then came Jon´s turn. He was nervous, but for Arya´s sake, he calmed down and stared at the paper.

"What are you waiting for? Begin now" said the septa without any patience.

"And who are you, the proud lord said,

that I must bow so low?" the Snow boy began singing, surprising them all. He had an excellent singing voice, one that would only need some polishing to become one of the best voices in Westeros. "Only a cat of a different coat,

that's all the truth I know." The septa lifted her hand, hoping he will fail in the high notes. "In a coat of gold or a coat of red,

a lion still has claws" perfect. And how much Sansa´s face scrunched up in envy was a work of art in Arya´s eyes. "And mine are long and sharp, my lord,

as long and sharp as yours."

In the corner, Lyanna was clapping while her son sung, taking a rest from her harassing Catelyn. This reminds her of Harrenhal too much to lose it. And Rhaegar was going to love it. When they were alive in the Tower of Joy, he said he wanted to teach their future kid to play and sing like himself. Now he had the opportunity to hear him doing it, even if he was not the one to teach him himself. A little happiness to light up their deaths.

Well, here we are. Catelyn is getting nutter every second because of Lyanna haunting her, blaming it all on Jon and making our dear old Ned miserable because of that. And who doesn´t like a little bit of karma? Hey, I don´t have anything against Ned, but I think he did a pretty shitty thing to his nephew, so he deserved a crazy wife making his life miserable and a ghostly little sister enjoying his pain. In another note, Jon is learning to play and sing. Cool, no? Hope no one hears him doing it, because if someone is smart enough to put the pieces together... Hope no one does, no? Well, here I say goodbye until the next. If you want more, review!


	3. Chapter 3

Hello! Hope you haven´t waited too much. Here is the next chapter you wanted so much. I want to take this time to send my thanks to all the people who review and liked this history. Even to the critics, because they also help you write something better. People, love you so much!

A song of ice and fire and Game of Thrones are not mine

Jon woke up that morning, stretching his arms and enjoying the residual warmth from the night in his room for a moment before having to leave it. Popping out of the bed, he did the same with his back and went towards his drawers to get a change of clothes for the day. Out of inertia, he grabbed his favourite tunic, only to find out it had a tearing in the border, perhaps from yesterday´s training. Now, normally that wouldn´t be a problem, but with Catelyn terrorizing the servants into ignoring him, there wasn´t someone that would dare to stitch his clothing back together. Humm, he should be more careful with training.

After clothing himself he left his cooling room for the Great Hall. The Stark family was still preparing for breaking their fast, so he had the whole place to himself. He even managed to put honey over the white paste, something the Tully woman hadn´t allowed him since Bran´s birth. This surely was heavenly. Enjoying the absence of Lady Stark´s glares, he served himself a plate full of porridge and started eating in company of the servants, who were busy running from one side to another to prepare the table.

"Hello, Jon" one of the serving girls greeted him, flashing a charming smile. On one corner, Lyanna wondered if she should add this maid to her punishment list. After all, her son deserved something better than a serving wench. "See that you came early. Do you want some sausages with that porridge?"

"No, thank you, Mara" he answered, grabbing his glass. It was a surprise to discover he still drank milk at this age when most boys would do ale, but the Stark ghost didn´t care. After all, he inherited that taste from her. "I see you have recovered greatly. How is your babe?"

"Great. Keeping me awake at night, but great. And my husband loves him" she continued with her conversation, making Lyanna calm down after realising this was just a harmless conversation. "If you have any clothing that needs repairing, just let me know and I will fix them. Just don´t let Lady Stark know, she will throw me out just for trying."

"My lips are sealed" he answered, returning to his porridge. The ghost frowned again. Would that woman dare to do something like that? Throw out a new mother just because she was friendly with her son? Each second she found that fish more distasteful.

Jon, for his part, continued breaking his fast in silence. He finished a few minutes before Lord and Lady Stark arrived after she put baby Rickon back to sleep. The boy haven´t mastered yet the art of sleeping through the night and wouldn´t sleep for his wetnurse no matter how much she rocked him. It has to be his mother. Trying not to think about that, the brunette left the hall before the noble couple could put a foot in there. And that was the greatest decision he took in all day, because not seeing him in the hall made Catelyn´s day.

"We should have more days like this" said the redhead, smiling at her husband. Ned tried not to frown, but seeing that she was referring to his nephew´s absence, he couldn´t avoid that. After all, Lyanna´s boy never did anything to earn his wife´s scorn and she was denying him a place in their table.

"You can enjoy this a little bit less" he answered, cutting his sausage. They couldn´t continue their argument, because a sleepy looking Robb entered the Great Hall in that second, followed by an equally sleep deprived Theon. They obviously have been awake way after their curfew, otherwise they would be well rested.

"Good morning, mother, father" the redheaded boy greeted, placing a kiss on his mother´s cheek. With a yawn, he sat down on his chair, waiting for his food. Then he noticed something. "Where is Jon?"

"I don´t know" answered Catelyn. Does every morning have to be ruined for her thanks to the bastard? "We haven´t seen that boy this morning. Perhaps he left the castle to go to the brothel, like many bastards do when they followed their low instincts."

"He didn´t!"

"How are you so sure?"

"I… I only know. He is not the type to go to such places anyway" answered Robb, not wanting his mother to find out that the night before he had an escapade to the brothel with Theon to see the naked girls. Well, the ironborn did much more than look at them, but the northerner still considered himself too young for that, so he kept his hands to himself. And Jon… the last time he convinced his brother to join them he run back to Winterfell in the middle of the night alone just to escape the place.

"Well, you will find him eventually, don´t worry" said his mother, determinate not to let the bastard ruin her morning. Sansa and Arya were the next ones to arrive, followed by little Bran by the hand of his wetnurse. She started feeding him in the mouth, leaving her other children to break their fast in peace. And it was indeed a peaceful morning.

She was starting to consider this a good day again when Sansa came to her. Breakfast has just finished and Septa Mordane was waiting for the girls to start the stitching lessons. Her golden daughter never arrived late, so it seemed strange to her that she was willing to sacrifice punctuality to talk to her.

"Mother, I need to talk to you about the music lessons" the other redhead said, a disgruntled expression in her face. She immediately thought it had something to do with Arya. After all, her youngest daughter always managed to cause trouble.

"Sweetie, I know you didn´t want to share your classes with Arya…"

"What? No, I doesn´t have anything to do with Arya… well, a little, but for once she is almost blameless" Catelyn raised an eyebrow, staring at her golden child. What could it be if it doesn´t have something to do with her sister? "It´s about Jon"

"Jon?!" her voice suddenly became harsh. "What has that bastard to do with your music classes? I thought Septa Mordane was giving them."

"Well…" Sansa tried to word it in a way that she wasn´t blamed for his joining the class. "Arya got a little bit hurt playing the harp" she started, stopping when Catelyn gave her a look of alarm. "Her hands suffered some cuts, no big deal. The septa says it´s very common in beginners."

"Oh, then, never mind. Continue"

"She was complaining about them hurting when Jon entered and convinced the septa to let her rest, saying he would call father if her cuts got worse because of the cords. Then she began whining about being a complete mess as a player, so he decided to show her that there were some people worse than her."

"Wait, the septa let your half brother join the class?" Catelyn said, raising an eyebrow. This was very unlike the pious Seven fanatic Mordane she knew.

"I… I might have had something to do with it" admitted Sansa, red in the face. "But the thing is that he is progressing faster than I" this left Lady Stark looking dumbfounded. A bastard playing better than a trueborn noble lady? Who heard of something like that? "I promise you, I´m trying, but every time I feel like I´m improving, he is too. Last class he managed to play Alyssanne with minimum mistakes while I had to do it at least a dozen times. He is ruining everything!"

In reality, what Sansa minded about her bastard brother joining her classes wasn´t his lowborn condition or his talent with the harp, it was that finally, FINALLY, someone akin to Arya managed to be better than her in something… ajem… ladylike. It felt like being defeated by Arya between all people. Arya, her horseface tomboy sister, who now wore a smug smile every time they entered the music class, as if Jon´s talent was hers. She seethed just to imagine the younger girl´s victorious expression.

"Don´t worry, sweethearth. I will tell your lord father and he will fix this, okay?" she promised, patting Sansa´s head. The girl left to her stitching lessons, relieved and thinking that perhaps now she could have the whole class for herself, but her mother was thinking a whole different thing. As well as the other mother in the room.

Lyanna didn´t like the tone of that woman. If her son wanted to play the harp, he could do it. After all, it was a passion he shared with Rhaegar and, after seeing so much of herself in the boy, seeing a little bit of her husband apart from the sullen, brooding personality was a welcoming sight. So she followed her good sister through the corridors, trying to find something huge to dump on her. But nothing appeared in her way.

"Well, desperate times calls for desperate measures" the Stark woman said, trying to grab Catelyn with her ghostly hands. She finally managed, making Catelyn scream in terror at the sensation of being grabbed by something invisible. She tried to grab something to recover her foot, but there was nothing to hold into. Smiling, Lyanna started dragging her towards a big window. Big enough to drop someone to his or her death. Mostly her.

"Ned… NED!" the Tully woman continued screaming, calling for her husband to protect her. Unfortunately, he wasn´t close enough to see or hear her.

"No one is going to attend" said Lyanna, smiling just by imagining her son´s tormentor falling to her death. The snow in the yard was going to look so pretty with fish blood in it…

"LADY STARK!" Jory Cassel yelled as he saw his lord´s wife being dragged by an invisible force to the window. The ghostly woman took him as a threat and threw her before he could reach them. Luckily, Catelyn managed to hold herself from the windowsill before falling to her obvious death. Jory ran towards her and helped her back inside, holding the trembling lady from her arms. "Milady, what happened?"

"The… the… the bastard" she muttered, making the man raise his eyebrows. "It has to be the bastard. He must have thrown a spell to kill me… he is the only one malevolent enough to do something like that."

"Ehhhhh… okay" the guard said, thinking she was crazy. "Perhaps we should take this to your husband if you are so sure that Jon… I mean his bastard is the culprit of your infortunate accident."

"Y… yes"

-In other part of the castle-

"Okay, boys, that´s all for today" said Ser Rodrick, lowering his sword. Jon did too, breathing hard. He won again thanks to Lady Stark´s absence and it was better like that. If he won before her eyes, he was in for a punishment. "Clean up and go fresh up before your class with master Luwin."

"Yes, Ser" answered the three boys, grabbing their practice swords. They quickly picked up their things and put them back in the armoury, then went to their rooms. There Jon found a repaired set of clothing, courtesy of Mara. Smiling, he changed out of his practice clothes and went towards the maester´s tower. Luwin was still not there, so he grabbed a book from the shelf and started reading to pass the time. He had just finished the first chapter when the master entered the room.

"Where are Robb and Theon?" asked the man, not seeing his two oldest pupils. Jon didn´t answer, not wanting to rat his brother and the ironborn out. Robb would never forgive him that. And Luwin knew that. "I see" he walked towards a corner on the room, where he kept the materials for the lesson. "Wish they didn´t skip classes so often. How are they going to govern their own lands lacking knowledge?"

"Theon says you only need battle prowess to make the people respect and fear you" answered the brunette, closing his book. Of course, Jon was the only sensate enough to not listen to the older boy. "Perhaps that is true in the Iron Islands."

"Even with what we all know about their culture, I doubt so" answered the maester, placing a hand on his table. "Well, now that you are my only student again, how about we review your last lesson. What can you tell me about the Reign of Baelor the Blessed?"

"The Septon King was…" not for the first time, Luwin found himself marvelled at the boy´s intelligence and willingness to learn. Jon was no bookworm by any extension of the word, but having been forced to hide from Lady Catelyn all his life has led him to spent time in places he could have entertainment without being found. Like his library. Which has also led to his superior knowledge about academic themes, specially now that Robb was skipping classes.

"Jon…" the man said when the lessons finished, just before he crossed the door to the exterior. He stopped, hoping he would finish soon. He had lessons with septa Mordane next and he had come to enjoy the company of music. "Have you ever thought of a plan for the future? Outside of the Night´s Watch, I mean."

"No… well… the Watch is the only place where I could belong to, no? They say even a bastard could rose high in the Night´s Watch."

"Yes, but… it´s not the only place" the man said, pulling out a book. The boy continued to look at him with interest. "There is also Oldtown" Jon looked surprisingly at him. "Don´t look at me like that, you have the mind to get in. I can write you a recommendation and send you there to study. As a maester you can rise high too, even to Archmaester."

"Yes… but I think I have more of a warrior than of a scholar" answered the brunette. "I bid you good day, maester Luwin."

He ran towards the room where septa Mordane was teaching the girls to play the high harp. She chided at him for being late before she allowed him to seat between Sansa and a very bored looking Arya. The redheaded Stark was sitting with all the poise of a highborn lady, holding her harp elegantly. She moved her fingers along the strings, playing Alysanne for the teacher.

"You can stop, lady Sansa" the septa said, smiling at her perfect student before passing a new music sheet to all her pupils. Jon stared at the paper, reading the lyrics. "Now that you have learned enough, I think you can play something more difficult. And as a reward for lady Sansa´s progress, you will learn this."

"Really? Jenny of Oldstones?" asked the girl in question, her eyes shinning. It was one of her favourite songs, so she was really excited. The rest were not, but anyway, they have to play and sing. Sansa was the first one to try, obtaining a passable like always. And Mordane didn´t really mind that she only obtained that. She only allowed the bastard to continue in her lesson because his talent woke up the competitive spirit in her golden student and make her double her efforts.

"Your turn, boy" Jon passed his fingers through the harp before starting to sing along with the melody.

"High in the halls of the kings who are gone

Jenny would dance with her ghosts

The ones she had lost and the ones she had found

And the ones who had loved her the most"

Outside the room, Ned walked towards the room Septa Mordane used to give her lessons. When Catelyn said to him Jon bewitched her, he thought she became completely mad. She must have noticed that, because she started screaming at him for everything, even for Jon attending one of the girl´s lessons. And she was sounding really coherent about that, so he decided to take a look. He knew he told Jon to occupy himself, but the girl´s classes? He must have been really bored.

Anyway, he was walking to the place when a known melody practically hit him. And the voice that came with it transported him back to Harrenhal for a second. Almost in a trance, Lord Stark walked towards the room the song as coming from.

"And she never wanted to leave, never wanted to leave

Never wanted to leave, never wanted to leave

They danced through the day

And into the night through the snow that swept through the hall

From winter to summer then winter again

'Til the walls did crumble and fall

And she never wanted to leave, never wanted to leave

Never wanted to leave, never wanted to leave"

Ned froze in the door, staring at the singer. For a second, he couldn´t see the boy he has come to love as a son, but the silver haired man who was his true father there, singing in the middle of the room. His hand gripped the doorframe so much splinters started to burry themselves into his skin.

"Father" Sansa greeted him, putting her harp aside. "Have you come to see us play?"

"What? No, no, I´m… I didn´t know you have musical inclinations, Jon" he said, finally waking up from his trance. "A… anyway, I don´t think musical pursuits are a good aim for a boy your age and station. You should think of a better way to spent your time." He swallowed once before continue. "I heard from maester Luwin you are doing very well in his lessons, why not spent more time with him?"

"Yes, you should do that" said Sansa, smiling in a sweet way, which meant she was getting her way. Arya was frowning, who was going to defend her against the septa now? Spending time with Jon was the only thing that made this lessons bearable. The boy, for his part, was prepared to argue, but the look on his father´s face made him shut up and accept his fate. He could still play when he was alone, anyway. "And now that it´s all settled, do you want to hear me play? I can already play the Bear and the Maiden fair, Alyssane and the Rains of Castamere…"

"WHAT?!" suddenly Ned´s mood soured again, scaring even his children. The septa took a few steps back, a look of shock in her face. "You dare to teach my daughters a song about that disgusting, dishonourable child slayer Tywin Lannister? Under my own roof?"

"Mi… milord, I didn´t think there was a problem" answered Mordane, trembling a bit. "It´s just that the song is famous and…"

"But nothing. I will not have songs like those in my halls" continued Ned, cutting her. "Since today, that song is banned from Winterfell, understood?" he said, looking at his daughters. They nodded, Arya more eagerly than Sansa. "That being said, I´m retiring. Come on, Jon, we need to talk. You too, Arya."

When the younger Stark girl didn't present herself the day after, Sansa thought she might have escaped now that Jon was not in there like the tomboy she was. And the septa didn´t seem bothered at all, so, why should she complain? This repeated again and again for a week until the redhead managed to catch that her sister was allowed to abandon the music lessons. She smiled smugly for a second. Finally she had her class all for herself. Not that she doubted it, because when did Sansa Stark didn´t get away with something?

You liked it? Really, I was tempted to put Jenny of Oldstones in the first music lesson, but then I thought it would be better to reserve that for when Ned found out. He was surely seeing ghosts now. And Sansa... I never really like her, always a bitch or a victim. Always sounded like a spoiled little princess for me, a bully for her sister too. Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will waiting for your reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

Hello! I was having some medical issues last week, but now I´m better. And with you, the next chapter of Ghosts of Winterfell, hope you like it!

"Gods, Catelyn, you can´t be talking seriously" said Ned after listening to the ramblings of the madwoman in front of him. the redhead just glared at him, her fingers tight in fists. "Please, see reason. Even if you were nearly thrown out of the window by an invisible force" he moved is fingers as he said the words, not really believing her "like you said, there is no way Jon was the culprit."

"Of course he is! Who but the bastard would wish me evil! Besides, only bastards incur in dark arts, which is obviously what´s happening here!"

"Cat…" he sighed, already tired of the conversation. Lately there was no way of reasoning with his wife. "we will talk later. Now I have to talk to Jory"

"Yes! Ask him what happened! He will tell you exactly the same!" she excited the room, banging the door. Her husband massaged his temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache forming inside his skull. Finally, he called for his captain, who seemed just as tired as him, probably because his lady´s ramblings too. Feeling sympathetic, the lord poured some wine for both of them, which the knight eagerly accepted.

"Can you tell me what happened? And please stop with the dark arts explanation, I had enough of that with my wife" he said and the other complied.

"I was waking down a corridor when I saw Lady Stark in trouble. It was… something strange, but… she may be telling the truth when she said something that cannot be seen was physically dragging her towards a window" he said thoughtfully. "Anyway, I saw the lady in peril, so I went to help. The thing, whatever it was, threw her out of a window. She might have died had she not grabbed the windowsill, giving me time to reach her and help her again inside."

"Strange" commented Eddard, frowning. Something invisible was haunting his wife? No, that cannot be. Jory must be confused. "Are you sure there wasn´t anyone else there?"

"Very sure, my lord" answered the knight. "I swear it by the old gods and the new."

"Well, then…"

"But I want to add something, my lord" Cassel said before the older man can dismiss him. "While there was indeed an invisible force trying to kill lady Stark, I don´t believe it was Jon who caused this. He is a sweet child and would never dare to do something like that, less incur in the… ahem… black arts, as the lady surely accused him of. He is only a victim of the negative views the southrons have of bastards."

"I know, I didn´t believe for a second he is to blame for anything" answered Ned, smiling. His nephew was indeed a nice boy. He was as proud of him as he was of his own son by blood. Which was more he could say for his other ward, who was beginning to worry him with his inclinations. "It´s all, Jory. You can leave"

"By your leave, my lord" once the guard was away, Eddard drank another cup, feeling guilty. Jon made such a face when he took away his harp that it him instantly regret it. Anyway, he stood firm by his decision. Like Jory said before, his nephew was a sweet child that didn´t deserved the fate he had. The boy was smart, caring, a good fighter… He would have made a great prince… too bad the rebellion took that away from him. and talking about princes, Jon´s singing voice was so remarkably like Rhaegar´s that it sent shivers down his spine. Gods, when he was singing Jenny of Oldstones the man could swear he smelled the perfume Ashara Dayne was wearing when they danced again. That´s why he couldn´t allow him to play. It was too much a risk.

"Father? Can I talk to you?" Arya entered, surprising him. He lifted his head, nodding at her. The little girl walked to him trying to walk like the lady she wasn´t, nearly falling to the ground each step. He lifted an eyebrow, what was she trying to achieve?

"What happened, little wolf? It´s just me, you don´t have to act like Sansa for me" specially because, much like Lyanna, being a lady simply wasn´t her thing.

"I… I wanted to ask you to give me back my harp" she asked, making him frown. Arya hated her music classes. Why was she asking for her harp back? Just when he was finishing to form these words he got his answer. She wanted it for Jon. "Please, father, I will do whatever you want. I will even stop running away from needlework classes and wear those horrible… I mean, those pretty dresses mother orders me."

"Yeah… talking about that, do you want the harp for yourself? Or is it for one of your brothers, perhaps Jon?" the girl was taken aback at being discovered so soon. "Do you want to tell me what is really happening?"

"It´s just… he was so happy when he was playing the harp he even smiled more often" she answered. Being the broody child he had been since birth, Jon´s smiled were scarse at best, so it surprised Ned to hear he has been doing that more frequently. "And he was looking so sad when you took his away that I thought of lending him mine, but you also took it away and…"

"For a good reason, Arya"

"What reason could you have to take away a harp?" asked the child.

"One you wouldn´t understand" like a voice that could land them all in an executioner´s block. "Listen, if you yourself are not going to use the harp, there is no reason for you to have it. Jon doesn´t need it either, as he is not going to need musical talents where he is going when he grows up."

"But why? He is doing no harm playing the harp. And it can give him some happiness when…"

"Arya, I´m not giving back his harp or yours, end of the history. Now go away to play, you still have time before you have to run from the septa to avoid needlepoint classes."

"Father! Please give me the…"

"Until dinnertime, my dear" the youngest Stark girl excited the room stomping her feet and, much like her mother, slamming the door. Ned sighed, smiling when she wasn´t around anymore to look. Now that was something Lyanna would have done. In fact, she had done it a lot of times when his father reminded her of her betrothal to Robert. And just like with Lyanna, it was going to be better if he stayed clear of Arya´s path until she cooled down. "Damn she wolves and their temper tantrums."

For her part, the little wolf was stomping towards the family wing. While she was there, she passed just in front of Sansa´s room. Normally she wouldn´t enter there, the aura of it made her want to puke, but now it gave her an idea. The spoiled little princess she had for a sister had not just one, but two high harps, a gift from her mother in case the first one ever breaks. She always carries the most beautiful one to class, so the second one had to be… quickly like a lightning, she entered the room and carefully searched around

"It has to be somewhere… here!" she covered her mouth, moving her head around to see if she alerted someone with her scream. Content that no one approached, she grabbed the musical instrument and ran away to search for Jon. He was going to be so happy when he sees what she got to him.

"Woa, woa, Arya, don´t run in the hallways, you can slip and break your head" someone said. The she wolf smiled, lifting her head to see her favourite brother approaching her. He was still in his training clothes, which means he just came from Ser Rodrick´s class.

"Look what I have for you!" she said, showing him the instrument.

"What…? Little sister, where did you get this?" asked the boy, grabbing the harp carefully. He had seen this before, once, when Sansa came to the dinner hall with both her harps to show them to her friends. "You entered Sansa´s room? Pray she didn´t notice you steal from her, because she is going to scream higher than your mother."

"I made sure she couldn´t notice" promised Arya. Jon was unsure, their redheaded sister always seemed to know. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Are you going to play something for me? I love to hear you play" Jon frowned. Father told him not to play, but… what harm could it do? He was just playing for his little sister, no one has to know.

"Just one" he toned the harp and started playing, not seeing the ghostly figure that followed him around. Rhaegar felt pride swell up in his ghostly chest. His son was such a gifted player. Of course his technique could use some practice, but he would naturally improve. He was already better than a beginner.

-In other place-

"I didn´t knew who else I could turn to" said Lady Catelyn, sitting across septa Mordane. The old woman stared at her lady, who looked pale and haunted. "Not even septon Chayle was willing to listen to me, nor my husband…"

"I´m here to listen, my lady. What troubles you?" asked the septa, feeling that the bastard had something to do with her lady´s problems. It has been a mistake to allow him in her music lessons, just like it was a mistake to raise such a child of sin with the trueborn heirs of a great house.

"Well, I… I have found myself being the victim of inexplicable accidents lately" the redheaded noblewoman said. "The most disturbing of them all is when an invisible fiend dragged me all the way towards an open window" she continued, remembering the terror of her fall. "If not for a stone and Ser Jory…" she shivered, putting her arms around herself. "I believe I might have been bewitched by an enemy."

"And do you have a clue about the identity of the fiend that might have done so?" she already knew the answer, but the crone wanted to hear it from Catelyn´s own mouth.

"My husband´s bastard… I fear he might have started practising the dark arts" the Tully answered, very sure of herself. "You know this children of sin, always jealous and trying to grab whatever power they can, so they can steal their trueborn sibling´s rightful inheritances" behind them, Lyanna was crackling her fists. Did she want to piss her off? "I mean… this might sound like crazy, even to a pious follower of the Faith like yourself, but it´s the only explanation to the events that has been happening…"

"My lady, don´t worry, I believe you" the old woman answered, sipping some tea. Internally, she was smiling like a loon. Time for someone to really get to work in expelling the bastard boy from Winterfell. The ghostly woman felt this too, mentally adding this crone to her vengeance list. "We of the Faith never forgot what dark powers have been used before against our people." She made a stop to breathe. "Besides, there is a precedent with bastards, specially from noblemen. Have you ever heard of Brynden Rivers?"

"Lord Bloodraven?"

"Yes, that bastard that managed to raise himself into Hand of the king" answered the septa, practically growling. "His powers were well known, but we were unable to do anything. He managed to control kings and lords, to see through stone and distance and feed the bodies of our siblings in faith to the fire to feed his demonic servants, claiming he was saving King´s Landing from a Plague."

"Yes, I learned the history when I was very young" answered the lady, suddenly very captivated. Jon Snow must be using the same sorcery that Brynden Rivers once used on King Daeron. Gods, he had already ensnarled Arya. What would she do if he managed to get a grasp on Robb? "Please, septa, help me, my children are in danger and my husband doesn´t want to listen to me."

"Don´t fear, my lady, I know exactly what to do with a sorcerer like that" she answered. "First, we have to extract a confession from the boy, then we can move to the trial and punishment."

"Will he be exiled to the Wall?"

"If he wishes to take the black, there is always that outing. If not, then he will test the fires of the seven hells before leaving this world" Catelyn shivered. She wanted the bastard gone, but no one ever told her that she was going to have a hand in burning him alive. Ned was not going to like it. "But before that, I need your help, my lady."

"My help? For what?" after listening to the plan, the Tully woman agreed to do what the religious woman said. Using her power over the household, she ordered the bastard to clean the stables. It was easy after she told her husband he stole Sansa´s harp, something she casually saw while in a corridor. Ned, for once, agreed with her punishment. Jon spent the afternoon outside the castle, palling horse shit out of the place.

"Good work, Jon" Hullen finally said after the boy finished. The bastard smiled, taking off his gloves. It was already dark and well pass dinner, so he better go directly to Arya´s room to tell her today´s bedtime history, before leaving for his own chambers. "You better go straight to your room, lady Stark didn´t look very content this afternoon"

"Well, she hardly does when dealing with me" he answered, straightening up his clothes. "I´m heading for the castle now, goodbye."

"Goodbye" Rhaegar followed his son through the hallways. He never understood why Lyanna would choose to follow that fish woman through the castle over spending some time with their prince. It was a loss of time. "Wonder if I should detour for the kitchen, perhaps there are still some leftovers in the table for the servants I can eat before bed…"

"Trying to steal now, bastard?" a voice surprised him. Septa Mordane stepped out of the darkness with what looked like a whip in her hands. A leather and very thick one. Why would she have such an implement in her power? Surely it was not a standard thing to have for all governesses.

"Good night, septa Mordane" he courteously said. "No, I was only heading to my room. Forgive me if my hungry ramblings interrupted whatever you were doing in you free time. I will go right now."

"No, we need to talk" the woman said, crackling the whip. Her eyes were fixated in the young boy in front of her, who took a step back. "Strange things has been happening to Lady Catelyn lately, were you aware of that?"

"Of course not, I´ve been trying to avoid her as much as I can" answered Jon, not surprised. Every time something bad or strange happened to the older redhead, he got the blame. This happened so many times in the past he wondered why he wasn´t interrogated sooner by the septa. Or by the lady herself.

"Don´t try to ensnare me with your lying ways, bastard, I know you have done it" great, he was trapped with the only person who wouldn´t believe anything that came out of his mouth. And just because he was a bastard. "Who else in this castle would incur in the dark arts?"

"Dark arts?" What in the Seven Hells has been happening to his sibling´s mother lately to accuse him of something so bizarre? Clearly nothing good. "I don´t know what has been happening to Lady Stark lately nor do I have a hand in whatever misfortune she has found. I swear that by the old gods and the…" the leash licked his skin once, making a cut on his face. He touched it, there was no blood. In fact, it nearly didn´t hurt. Rhaegar opened his eyes wide. Did someone really dare to harm his son? "What…?"

"A lying bastard like isn´t worth of swearing by the gods name! You filthy child of sin!" the woman continued. Jon tried to walk away, too honourable to hurt an old woman, but she continued to hit him. As it was starting to get a little bit painful, he dodged the next assault and bolted out of hallway. He hoped the old woman stopped her assault, but she followed him. unfortunately for her, her skirts didn´t allow her to move very quickly. "Come back here!"

The boy just continued to run until he reached the family wing. Just a few more steps to find himself in the safety of his room, as the pious woman would never his personal chambers. Surprisingly, he was stopped by an arm in the common halls that led to the Stark children´s bedrooms. He was about to hit the stranger when a candle shed some light into the room. It was…

"Hey, where are you going so fast?" Robb joked, holding a tray with stew sandwiches. "Arya is already asleep. She was very crossed that her little thieving got you into trouble, so I decided to take over historytelling duty tonight. So you could rest."

"Thank you, brother" he answered, searching the room for signs of the septa. "And the sandwiches are a great gift, really, but I need to go now or…"

"Come back here, you filthy bastard!"

"Septa Mordane?" asked the Stark heir, confused. What could the woman want with his bastard brother? "What did you do now?"

"Nothing!" defended himself Jon. In the shadows, a very displeases Lyanna was already machining her revenge on the aging woman. And the fishy lady was going to be next. Quickly, she grabbed some rope she had prepared for the Tully and waited for that woman. She was going to have the scare of her life.

"Septa" Robb started when the governess arrived in the room. "What is happening here?"

"Please, Lord Robb, don´t interfere. The bastard has incurred into the dark arts and is torturing your poor lady mother with his sorcery. He even tried to kill her. This is the only way to make him confess, to save her"

"My mother said that?" asked the Stark, not really surprised but very angry. Dark arts? Please, Jon wouldn´t hurt a fly. Much less any of them. "Does my lord father know about this claims?" the woman paled. "Of course not. Well, I will inform him in the morning and let´s heard what he had to say about this. Good night, septa, and come on, Jon."

"Lord Robb, if this isn´t finished and he continued…"

"I said good night, septa Mordane" the whip moved again, much to the Stark heir´s surprise.

"He has already bewitched you, I know. I have to stop him now or the Stark family…" Lyanna acted in that moment, pulling the rope she had discretely tied around the septa´s ankle. Suddenly the woman found herself suspended in the air, head down hanging from a chandelier in the roof. Her skirts pooled around her face, which was red from screaming. Robb and Jon stared at the spectacle astonished. Even a bit traumatizes by the hairy, varicose legs the woman was showing. Rhaegar tried to put his hands over the boy´s eyes to shield them from that, but, being transparent, there was nothing he could do.

"We heard screams, what…" Jory arrived with the guards that moment, stopping when he saw Lyanna´s work of art. Ned Stark also came, as the screams reached his solar, and had the decency of shielding his son´s and nephew´s eyes from the vision.

"What are you waiting for, get her down!" ordered the Lord, also looking another way. Finally the Cassel managed to get the septa out of the death trap, but by then all the castle knew that she has been hanged from the chandelier, showing her underclothes to their lord´s heir and bastard. Many pitied the young boys for that.

"Septa Mordane, what happened?" asked Lady Catelyn when she finally visited the governess the next morning. The pious septa grabbed her hand and hold it.

"Be strong, my lady. You are the only one that can save your children" she talked in a coarse voice, making the redhead worry more about her. "That bastard needs to go and you know it. Send him where he truly belongs to."

"I will, septa" promised the Tully. Behind them, Lyanna stared at the two. They want to play? She could play. They messed with the wrong mother´s child and now they were going to pay the consecuences.

Lady Catelyn is getting on the move now. How is poor Jon going to get rid of her? Or better, how is going Lyanna to punish her for whatever she does to her son? I have some ideas, but I wish to hear your thoughts too. By the way, did you like the chapter? The septa Mordane part was a spark of inspiration I had after seen a comedy song about the Inquisition. I know it´s terribly ut of character in the septa, but I wanted some comic relief. Sorry to traumatize the characters, but it´s the most humiliating thing I imagine would happen to a septa. What do you think? Review!


	5. Chapter 5

Hello! Sorry for taking too long, but I was having some trouble with how to end this chapter and some other things... but well, here is the much awaited next chapter of Ghosts of Winterfell. Enjoy!

A few days after the incident with the septa, Catelyn was walking through the corridors when the servants around her started to run. Most of them were concerned with something, but she didn´t want to look ignorant, so she wouldn´t ask. After a few minutes she found Jory Cassel, that looked worried. For a second she considered asking him to explain her the situation, masquerading her intentions as a thanks for saving her from the ghosts summoned by the bastard, but he beat her to it.

"Get inside, milady" said the knight, grabbing her gently by the arm. "A summer blizzard is coming this way. We all need to get back inside before we freeze to death."

Ah, now she understood. A summer blizzard, a current of air from the lands beyond the Wall that lowered the already icy temperature of Winterfell to one that can freeze nearly everything if exposed enough time, specially living things susceptible to hypothermia. The last time one happened, one guard ended up being exposed for a few minutes. Jory made a heroic rescue and bring the almost frozen man in. He needed at least a complete day in the hot springs to heal.

"Are all the people inside and safe?" asked the woman, entering the castle. Normally for this kind of infrequent events, she would be in her quarters, the warmest in the castle, but as the lady, she needed to make sure before retiring that all the servants were protected.

"Ser Rodrik is making a final recount of the guards to make sure all of them are inside the castle and Hullen is working to secure the horses against frostbite. The ones working in the stables are with him" an idea sparked in her mind. Jon Snow was punished by Ned because of the theft and had to work with the horses. If she were to close the doors before he entered… "Tell them to hurry up, we need to close before the wind becomes freezing."

"They will finish in time, milady" said the guard, making her nod. The horsemen will enter through the closest door to the stables. If she planned things carefully… nodding quickly to the guard, Catelyn made her way towards the side door. Hullen and Harwin were the first to get through it, followed by her husband´s infamous bastard. The men entered quickly, running, leaving Jon a little bit behind. When he was entered…

"Is that a horse? Did you let one of the animals escape?" asked Catelyn, frowning. As if everything was normal between them. The bastard turned around, to see if one of the beasts have break lose. He even took a tiny step towards the cold. The woman took that opportunity and, with all the strength she could muster, she pushed him towards the cold. Jon tumbled in the snow, turning around to see Lady Stark closing the door. Quickly, he banged it, but he could only hear the key locking it shut.

"Lady Stark! What are you doing?!" asked the boy, slamming his fists on the hard wood door again. He could hear the woman moving around behind the object, like she was on a trance. Why was she doing? Of course, the boy knew she hated him, and with a passion, but he never considered her capable of killing him. "Please open the door" he tried, only being responded by the sound of steps towards the door. "The blizzard will be here in no time, if you don´t open I´m going to freeze to death. You are a mother, you don´t want to do this…"

"I´m sorry" she said. And even if she was lying, as the woman felt no guilt in killing a bastard, that she was able to murder a child Robb´s age made her soul cringe. Her only counsel was that with this, her children´s claim to Winterfell will be secured. The bastard will never threaten them again.

"NOOO!" Rhaegar roared when he saw this. He always followed his son everywhere, trying to get to know him in silence. Seeing this made him want to attack the woman that just tried to murder his last child in front of him, but there were more pushing business to take care of right now. Quickly, he got through the door and followed the shaking lady. She was so affected by what she had just done that stealing the key from her wasn´t so hard. Less for a ghost. He then looked at the recovering Catelyn with barely contained rage. "You damn bitch, I hope Lyanna gets you for this."

He flied at top speed towards the door, the key slipping from his fingers more than once in the way. Every time it happened, he cursed his lack of practice in the art of keeping himself tangible. Were he more like Lyanna, this would be happening. But he didn´t have much, the blizzard would be in it´s most strength by now, his son only had precious few minutes before suffering from hypothermia.

The prince opened the door and searched around the field when he arrived at the place he had left Jon. He must have moved, because he was nowhere to be seen. Dropping the key, he desperately searched around for the boy. He found him passed out near the stables. He apparently went there in hopes of sharing the horse´s heath. It was not working, as the boy was already unconscious. Distressed, Rhaegar floated towards him, putting a hand on his head, caressing his brown locks.

"It´s going to be alright, ñuha tresy" he said, using High Valyrian to calm himself down and think about how to get him inside. Finally, he grabbed his child and started dragging him towards the open door. It took the prince a few tries, tons of luck and a firm determination to drag his son to the safety of the castle. More than once the boy hit the frozen ground, his head only cushioned by the snow that was falling. Snow, like the bastard surname Lord Stark gave to him when he took him in. "I´m going to take you to safety."

A few more steps in the snow filled floor, the ghost finally managed to get him through the door. After that, he tried to close the door with all his might. If he didn´t do it, then his boy was going to die regardless of being in the castle. Unfortunately for him, he had used too much energy getting him to the castle, so he wasn´t going to be able to touch anything for quite some time.

"hummmm"

"Shhhhh, resist some more…"

"The cold air comes from here!" another voice suddenly sound in the corridor and Rhaegar breathed out in relief. Him leaving the door opened caused a freezing air current to invade the castle, so the guards were told to investigate. The lord himself probably was patrolling the inner corridors for the origin too. And he was right, because a guard´s head peeked out from the darkness. Soon he managed to see the unconscious boy laying on the floor. "Captain, come quickly!"

"What is… Jon!" Jory Cassell entered that moment, finding his lord´s bastard completely passed out and nearly frozen. Why was he not in the family wing, warm in his room? Suddenly an object made a sound. He lowered his gaze and found a key. He closed the door and locked it with the mysterious key. This gave him some serious doubts that this was an accident.

"Captain, he is nearly frozen" one of his men caught his attention.

"There is no time to lose then. Take him to maester Luwin, quickly" the guards grabbed the boy and dragged him towards the maester´s current room. The old man, already prepared to threat frostbite, received them in his temporary quarters, between covers, sheets and a bright warm fire. He immediately began to work on the unconscious boy, covering him after putting him in the warmest place in the room. Lord Stark entered a few minutes later

"I heard what happened, how is he?" asked Eddard, sitting down in the stool next to his adoptive son´s bed. Jon was still unconscious, his eyes shut tightly, but his body had already recovered some of the temperature he usually had. Behind him was Catelyn, wondering how the boy could have opened the door. She was sure she locked it, the key was in her… where was it?

"He will live" answered the maester, preparing some herbal medicine in the fire. It would prevent any respiratory problems derived from long exposure to low temperatures. Or at least mitigate the cold the boy would surely suffer after getting stuck in the snows for only the gods knew how long. "His hands aren´t really affected, at least not to the point where a finger might fall off…" the man said, letting the lord examine them. "Feet too"

"Good" Eddard moved to put his cloak over the unconscious boy´s form, but Luwin stopped him.

"He is drenched, milord. Wait until I take his clothes off" Jon opened his eyes in that moment. He looked around, not understanding what the hell was he doing here. One second he was on the snow in the middle of the blizzard and the next he found himself in maester Luwin´s provisional room, getting warm by the fire. He tried to lift himself, but sneezed before succeeding. Another sneeze followed after, making Lord Stark worried about him.

"Jory, can you bring a change of clothes from Jon´s room? My son needs to get out of those cold clothes immediately" ordered the lord of the castle, putting a hand on his nephew´s shoulder. Rhaegar, who was by his side, clenched his ghostly teeth, but didn´t do anything. Ned didn´t have the blame for what happened. "Jon, what were you doing outside in the middle of a blizzard? You know that you should get inside immediately."

"Yes" Catelyn froze when she heard the question. For a second she thought the bastard was going to answer and then her husband would find out what she has done. Ned wouldn´t take lightly to her wanting to kill his natural child. After all, he always favoured him for some reason beyond her comprehension. "Well, I…"

"What, boy?"

"You are going to believe me stupid, but I think I saw a horse out there, in the storm" Jon Snow answered, keeping Catelyn´s involvement in the incident hidden. She didn´t want to feel grateful, but she couldn´t help it in that situation. "Hullen and Harwin had already made a recount of the beasts in the stables, so I should have known there was no animal there."

"And the door? Why didn´t you enter when you checked on the horses?" asked Eddard, noticing he was lying or at least hiding something. He didn´t want to pressure the boy right now, after such an experience, but…

"The door shut itself before I could get inside" explained Jon, but no one believed him. he was a shit liar after all. "I started pounding on it to open it, but… what happened after I fainted?" asked the boy, changing the subject quickly to distract his father. "Did Jory pull another of his miraculous rescues?"

"No, you were found inside of the castle, in front of that door" said Ned, sighing. Jon was not going to tell him anything, which made him believe the boy was left outside in purpose. And that thought terrified him. Did someone learn the truth about Jon´s parentage? Were there daggers in the dark, waiting for the right moment to murder his son? Did Robert knew about what he had done? That last one´s answer was obviously no, because he would be guiding an army directly towards Winterfell´s doors in that moment if he knew. "Are you sure you didn´t see anything else."

"I´m fine, father" he sneezed again, making the lord rise an eyebrow. "Perhaps I caught a cold, father, but after some time near the hearth I´m going to be perfect. There is no need for you to worry about me now."

"Very well, if you don´t have any more to say" the warden of the north answered, putting a hand on his nephew´s head to pat it for a second. Jory entered the room in that moment, a change of clothes on his arms. He quickly passed it to Jon, making Catelyn flee the room quickly. "I will leave you to change then. Maester Luwin, tell me if something changes, alright?"

"Of course, milord" answered the old man, seeing as the warden of the north left in company of his captain of guards. Both of them were really serious, believing foul play in Jon´s accident that day.

"We found the key on the floor next to the door, milord" Jory commented after being questioned. "I found it suspicious, but then again who would lock the son of the lord of Winterfell out in the middle of a blizzard and leave the key behind?"

"That´s the thing I find strange too" said Eddard, trying to make sense of what happened there. Who would want to murder Jon? Catelyn´s name passed through his mind for a second, but he crossed it immediately. His wife might be paranoid about Jon, her southron education not allowing her to understand the boy didn´t want to usurp Robb, but she would never harm a child. That was simply not possible. He tried to find someone else without success. Perhaps all has been an accident?

"Father!" Robb and Arya suddenly appeared in the corridor, the two of them with practice swords in the hand. He raised an eyebrow, what were they doing with those? "Father, we heard Jon has been trapped in the blizzard. Is he alright?"

"Yes, he is. A little bit cold, but he will live" he then grabbed the training tolls. "What I want to know is what you were doing with these inside the castle. How many times has your mother told you not to swordplay inside?" the boy flustered and took a step back, embarrassed. "And you, Arya, don´t you have other lessons?"

"They are boring" was the girl´s explanation. Ned sighed, this girl was just like Lyanna, the gods protect her from a fate like hers.

"Well, I will let this pass because you were here to see your brother, but don´t do it again, do you hear me?" he let his children pass, continuing with his duties. Especially the ones concerning the still suspicious incident with Jon. He knew the boy was hiding something, but… what? He needed to find out.

-In the room-

"Really, I just got a cold. Give me a few days and I will be fine" said Jon to his distressed siblings. His little sister punched him and called him stupid for not noticing the door was closing and he accepted it. It was better than her knowing her mother tried to murder her favourite sibling.

"Don´t ever do that again" she continued berating him, making Robb laugh. Jon joined him after a few seconds, making his ghostly father smile. And that was good, because after such a scare, laughing with his siblings was a good sign. It made his ghostly sign beat again. And talking about hearths, Lyanna chose exactly that moment to appear, her face contorted in worry. For once, Rhaegar was not happy to see her.

"Where were you?" he asked, turning around towards his wife. Lyanna had made her afterlife´s mission to haunt Catelyn. Why wasn´t she around when that bitch threw their son out in the middle of a freaking blizzard? He didn´t want to be accusing, but seeing his son almost dying in front of him was too much. Jon needed her, he needed both of them, and they were not there. "That woman pushed him out and closed the door. I did everything I could, but it took me too much…"

"Shhh, he is fine" she assured him. "You protected him well. And will do so again, if it is needed." She sat down near her husband. "Meanwhile, I will make sure my brother´s fish wife learns a few things."

Rhaegar nodded, watching his son joking and laughing with his cousins. He was going to be in bed with a bad cold for a few days, but soon he would be again on the training yard. And in the wolfswood and the stables and… Well, normally, going everywhere in the castle wouldn´t worry him, but it gave the murderous lady plenty of opportunities to kill their boy. Perhaps they should end it now.

"It has to be tonight" he said, getting up. "We have to end her tonight"

"Why does it has to be tonight?" Lyanna knew the redhead had to disappear, but she also wanted to play a little bit with her before sending her with her beloved Seven. After all, the bitch spent more than ten years torturing her son, she deserved to suffer. "Give me a few days, I will make her wish she had never put a finger on my boy."

"My dear, her paranoia is also affecting our son. That woman is going to blame him for everything that´s happening to her."

"You think she will try to kill him again?" asked the Stark, frowning. "Even my brother would suspect her if there is an attempt on his life so soon after the last one."

"Your brother is blind when it comes to people he loves, my love. His wife, especially" Rhaegar continued, staring at his last child, the boy he wanted to keep alive more than anything in the world. "And I´m afraid next time she might succeed."

"She won´t" the Stark assured, having already machinated something to cut Catelyn completely off their son´s life. "You watch over him, just like you have done. I will take care of her."

She left the room floating, relieved that someone she trusted was watching over her boy. More if it was her husband, the father of their son. It wasn´t that she didn´t trust Rhaegar, just that it was easier to manipulate solid things when you had a connection with them from when you were alive. And Winterfell was a huge, powerful connection to her. If there was someone who could kill a human being in this place, it was her. Besides, she doubted Rhaegar could kill a woman, less a mother of five. His honour would surely get in the way. And… there was only one object worthy of taking revenge for her son.

"I have always wanted to wield this" she said, grabbing Ice and taking it out of it´s scabbard. She smiled when the Valyrian steel shine in the dimly lit room her brother left her in. What a waste of good steel to only bring her out in an execution of to polish. Their ancestral sword belonged to the battlefield, defending the honour of House Stark… all of it. And it was time the fish lady learns that.

-Some time later-

Eddard Stark returned to his room after a hard day in his solar, signing documents and reading letters from his lords. Apparently the Karhold was having a bad harvest, apparently thanks to a drought. If it continues like this, the castle wouldn´t be able to store enough grain for the winter to come unless someone does something. They still have a few more years of summer to recover, but Lord Stark would have to step into if the situation didn´t change. Appart from that, there were troubles with pirates in White Harbour and scuffles in the borders between Hornwood´s and Bolton´s lands…

Anyway, it has been a long day and he was ready to sleep in his bed until dinner, then make a short visit to Cat, sleep again, go early in the morning to polish his… Ice was not in it´s scabbard. The man jumped with all his senses wide awake when he noticed the absence of his family´s precious heirloom. He started searching around the room at full speed, leaving a mess behind him.

"Jory!" he called when it became obvious that the weapon was not in his chambers.

"Yes, mi lord?"

"Has anyone entered mi chambers?" asked the man, clearly upset. The captain of guards stared at him without understanding. "I left my sword there in the morning and when I came back it was gone."

"Are you sure, mi lord?" after searching through the room once more, Cassel sounded the alarm and all of Winterfell was searched. There was no sign of the sword anywhere. Meanwhile, Lyanna chuckled at her brother´s predicament. It was a good idea to steal the sword. After all she needed a diversion to keep her brother from interfering her plans.

Woow, two moms are about to fight? Who do you think is going to win? Lyanna the wild wolf or Catelyn the strong fish lady (strong, not smart, because of what I read in the books and seen in TV, she had much fault in Robb losing the North and causing the war of the Five Kings). I personally bouch for our favourite wolf lady, but if someone is team Catelyn here, I want to hear you too! Send a review!


	6. Chapter 6

Hello! Sorry for my absence, but I was having some difficult times and a huge writter´s block. Well, I hope you like this chapter!

"Ned, you should come to rest" Catelyn said to her tired husband, forgetting for a second the bastard issue. Ned growled a bit. He had been searching for Ice all day, but the sword wasn´t anywhere. Even in the crypts. And he didn´t like it. It almost seemed as if the ancient heirloom of House Stark has been stolen. Which could mean that the sword was miles away by now, probably about to be sold to anyone with a purse so fat that it could afford Valyrian steel. Like Tywin Lannister or Mace Tyrell.

"In a moment, Cat" answered the man, searching around. His wife frowned, but didn´t reply. She had more things to worry about, like the devious bastard still in her home. And her husband would eventually return to bed with her. He always did. So she returned to bed, pushing the covers out of their places to get herself into the bed. She closed her eyes, trying to call sleep into her mind… when suddenly something grabbed her ankle and pulled her out of the bed. She felt with a groan, but didn´t have time to process her pain, because whatever force was pulling her didn´t stop at that. She clawed the floor, trying to keep herself in the place, but the invisible assailant was too strong. The Lady of Winterfell screamed as she was dragged on the floor, out of her room and down the stairs.

Meanwhile, Eddard was practically tearing the castle apart in search of the damn sword when he heard his wife´s yelling. He ran towards her room, stopping at midway when Catelyn passed in front of him, being dragged through the floor towards the main gate. He blinked once, then another time… was he seeing well? There was nothing dragging Cat, but she was clearly being dragged. How THE HELL could that be happening?

"NED! NED, HELP ME!" the redhead screamed, finally grabbing a door in the way, trying to stop her invisible enemy. Lyanna only pulled harder, decided to make her suffer. This was going to be her triumphal night, the last one in that despicable woman´s live. And nothing, not even her brother, was going to take that away from her. "NED!"

"CAT!" he finally answered, moving to help her. The Stark ghost frowned, using more of her strength. This finally did the trick and made the Tully girl lose her grip on the wood. Cat felt herself being dragged even further. For a second she wondered where the foe was taking her. Where the bastard was ordering him to take her. But then she was turned around and saw the red leaves that only grew up in one place. The Godswood. She was being taken to the Godswood.

"Unhand me!" she demanded, making Lyanna laugh. Did she really think she had an ounce of control on this? "I know it´s you, bastard, and believe me I don´t fear you! I will do whatever to protect my children from your depravity, even if it costs me my live! And I´m protected by the gods, a beloved child of the Seven, there is no way you can defeat me! Unhand me this instant!"

"The seven does not reign here" answered the warrior woman, grabbing some rope she had prepared beforehand. She quickly tied Catelyn´s legs while the other female shrieked and tossed around, finally hanging her upside down in the hearth tree. Satisfied, the ghost took the Valyrian steel sword in her hands, ready to open her in canal and hang her insides from the branches, First Men sacrificial style. "This is your…"

"CAT!" Ned entered in that moment, alone, with a sword in his hands. He looked around to search for the assailant, but only saw Ice floating in the air. His eyes widened, unwilling to believe in what his eyes were seeing. His ancestral heirloom was about to cut his wife like a pork for the slaughter. Completely alone.

"Move aside, Ned" a female voice reached his ears. It was awfully familiar, even if he couldn´t remember exactly where the hell had he last heard it. He didn´t have much time to wonder, because the sword was moved closer to Catelyn. The Lord of Winterfell didn´t doubt it, he threw himself to intercept the strike before it could tear his wife like a piece of jam. "I don't want to hurt you…"

"You are hurting my family. If you hurt my family, you hurt me" the man said, intercepting the next strike. He had to be very careful, as the other was using Valyrian steel and had the advantage of a sword that could practically cut his own in half if used correctly. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

"I´m avenging House Stark…"

"You are trying to hurt the Lady of Winterfell in her husband´s castle, something no friend of the North should do!" replied the man, accusatory. This didn´t affect his sister´s determination. She was going to cut the trout bitch down and nothing was going to come between her and her goal. Not even her brother. "You are hurting House Stark!"

"That woman tried to kill a Stark. It´s my duty to avenge him with her blood"

"Catelyn would never do something so dishonourable…"

"This rotten woman is going to die for her sins, you are not…" the sword slipped a bit in Lyanna´s hands, making the ghost curse. Dragging the screaming and fighting Catelyn to the Godswood have taken a lot of her energy and now she didn´t even had the strength to fight with her brother. The ancient sword felt through her hand clanking on the floor, which Ned took as a surrender from the mysterious fiend. He ran through Lyanna, complete oblivious to her hateful glare. "You will pay for this, brother"

"Cat" the man said, grabbing the sobbing lady. She was still hanging from the tree, feeling difficulty to breath in the position. Her husband immediately held her, trying to keep her from asphyxiating herself. "Are you alright? Did that… thing… hurt you in some way?"

"I´m… I´m fine" she answered weakly, even if she was sure her ankle was broken. "Please get me out of here, Ned. Please, get me down and away from… I don´t want to be here" she said, ashamed. That spirit knew what she had done to the bastard, she was sure of that. Were this plants the source of the bastard´s sorcery? Had he been using the dark spells of the ancient North that greenseers were so famous about? She didn´t want to know, it scared her. "Please… please…"

"Shhhhhh, it´s okay, Cat, everything will be okay" answered him, petting her head while his sister made vomiting faces. She didn´t know how her idiot brother could love such a despicable bitch, never. And she will never care. She was killing that cold fish anyway. "SOMEBODY HELP US! JORY, SER RODRICK, GUARDS!"

"Milord? Milady!" Jory Cassel and some of his men appeared in that moment, running over the snow. They quickly helped their liege lord to get Catelyn down the tree and proceeded to march her towards the castle. Eddard stopped for a second near to where Ice was resting. He kneeled down in front of the ancient inheritance of his House, examining it. It looked exactly as it looked a few hours ago. And the day before. And the day before that… everyday for the last few years. But it wasn´t the same anymore.

Once his father had told him that Ice had the spirit of all the previous Stark Lords, their will to protect the North from everything. The White Walkers, the Andal invasion, the Targaryen Invasion… even if they lost that one… but anyway, that sword had the will of his forefathers to protect his ancient homeland. And not for the first time, he wondered what they would think of his pure Andal wife. Well… They would not be very pleased. The andals have been their enemies for generation and he could not think of one Stark Lord or King besides Rickard Stark that would have liked to have a Southron Lady of Winterfell. Hell, even his mother was firmly against finding sourthron matches for her children before her death. And, even now, many of his lords didn´t totally accept Catelyn. He didn´t want to think about it, but what if… No. No, he didn´t believe in ghosts. They were childhood stories told to kids to scare them before bed, nothing more. Like the White Walkers and Greenseers.

"Milord?" Jory said, returning to him after a good few minutes. He had sent his men away with the injured Lady Stark and now got back, finding his lord kneeling in front of the Ancient Sword Ice. Just like he left him. "Milord? Is there something the matter?"

"Not at all" the man grabbed the handle of the weapon, examining it while he wielded it. During a second, he thought he saw a woman glaring angrily at him in the reflection, but it was gone before he could recognize her. But… it was strikingly familiar. Like the voice in the wind from the invisible fiend.

He continued to think about it until maester Luwin went to find him after examining his wife. Apparently, she had nothing more than a sprained and badly bruised ankle… apart from the scare, that´s it. But if he had not arrived when he did, the consequences would be more fatal. And there was something that was still troubling the two men…

"What really puzzles me is why the assassin used this precise method of murdering" the old schoolar began once they sat down in the lord´s solar. "According to the historians, this was the way the old northerner used to sacrifice humans to the Old Gods" he stopped at that moment, remembering he was in front of one of the Old Religion followers. "Of course, it was a practice long banned from the realm..."

"But it still can be found in some history books if you know where to search" continued Stark, frowning. "I suppose it was the punishment the andal invaders got when they were captured in battle for burning the godswoods in the south in the name of their gods."

"No, in fact, those andals were receivers of the punishment of the blood eagle, if our records on history were accurate" Ned immediately lifted his head. Before he was managing the theory that one of his lords, one specially offended bannerman, hired a specially skilled assassin to get rid of the Lady of Winterfell for constructing a sept in the hearth of the north. But now… "You said it was a human sacrifice."

"Yes, but the method of sacrifice changes according to what the victim was accused of" explained the maester. "The blood eagle was reserved to the heretics and blasphemous and… well, you understand. The worst punishment to the worst criminals. And afterwards they hanged their corpses from the trees and let the elements to take care of them, as a warning to the other andals."

"And the way Catelyn was hanged… it´s not because she a southerner or a devout follower of the Seven" Ned realised. "Maester, what was the crime that was punished by hanging upside down and opening the person in canal?"

"I´m not sure, but I have seen it before in a book…" the old man then called a stewards and sent him to collect a few books. The man returned with a pile of them, all detailing the punishment the First Men used against their criminals. From the banishment to the Night´s Watch, to the most gruesome ones. Luwin passed the pages trying not to look at the pictures much. "Here is it"

"And well?"

"It was used primarily against women, but not exclusive of them. The crime was… child murdering" this left the Stark cold. The assassin… she accused Catelyn of trying to murder a child. Could it be… no, his Cat could never do something like that. She was a good mother, for the old gods and the new. She couldn´t hurt a child even if she hated it. "I know Lady Stark would never do something like that…"

"You are saying that as if you think someone is accusing her of something" the noble continued to look at the picture, detailing how the woman was cut in canal and her intestines hanged from the tree. "Maybe they used this because she is a woman. Didn´t you said it was mostly used on women?"

"Yes, but was not exclusive of them. There were men condemned to this. And the women were the usual victims because they were mostly blamed for the stillborn or the dead infants on their cribs" explained the schoolar, frowning. "I don´t know why the assassin picked exactly this form of punishment, but…"

"That puzzles me too" the northerner said, rubbing his eyes. Then he stared at the ancient heirloom, which was on it´s scabbard. The same sword that nearly cut his wife in half. "Anyway, I don´t think we could do more tonight. I already told Jory to double the guard, especially on the family wing, but I have a feeling that the children are fine. I won´t take any risks, but…"

"I know, milord" the man lifted himself carefully, he turned around, but then he stopped and did the same. "You know, milord, there is something that has been bothering me since the incident with young Jon Snow happened."

"What is it?"

"Hullen and Harwin entered with him before the blizzard. They said Lady Stark was guarding the door when they did so… and that there was no horse free on the courtyard."

"He could have imagined the horse"

"But someone had to have closed the door and the only people there were Lady Stark and your bastard son" Eddard´s face turned dangerous then. What was this man insinuating? "I´m not accusing her of anything, but I feel she knows more than she is letting in. Perhaps she even knows who closed the door."

"The door was open when Jon was found"

"Jory told me the guards found a trail in the snow before closing it, signalling that it was recently opened, and another that looked as if someone had dragged an unconscious body young Snow´s size through it. They didn´t have time for further investigation, but they are sure of what they saw. If that didn´t raise any alarm…"

"Are you saying me that someone closed the door on my son knowingly? And that other someone dragged him inside? Maester, this doesn´t make any sense" answered Eddard confused, as suddenly an image formed in his mind. Had someone… tried to kill his nephew? Who? Had they been found out? "I will question Jory and his men in the morning, but please, don´t talk about this. No one has to know"

"My lips are sealed, mi lord"

-In another room-

"Where were you?" Rhaegar asked, sitting besides his only remaining child´s bed. He had come to do that every day, his safety the most important thing for him. he also sung some lullabies to him, as he did with his older siblings before, to remind him that dragons protected him. to remind him he was not alone. His wife… well, she was far more occupied with her revenge, something he wholeheartledly supported. Hell, he would even help if he could move something bigger than a quill.

"Teaching that whore who calls herself my goodsister some lessons in northern history" she said, putting a ghostly hand over his child´s head. Oh, how much he looked like her. Even with those lovable Valyrian features gracing his face. "I´m glad he is completely recovered now. Tomorrow he is going to be allowed again in the courtyard…"

"Don´t change the subject. Did you made sure that fish cunt doesn´t mistreat another child?" asked the Targaryen, looking at her dead in the eye.

"Well… no, Ned interfered in the middle of the thing" she answered, a little bit taken aback. Her husband had never addressed her in such a hard voice. "I had already hanged Catelyn from the hearth tree and was going to cut her open when he arrived…"

"And why were you making such a show out of it?" continued the former prince, staring at her. "I know you, Lyanna, you have never been one for theatrics despite your propensity to find yourself in them. That trait you have in common with your brother" she returned the stare before lowering her gaze a little bit ashamed. She did stage the murder a bit like a mummer´s farce, much to her dislike. "Why did you have to hang her over the tree when just a stab through the hearth would have finished it?"

"It was… it was the punishment for child murderers before the Targaryen Reign over the Seven Kingdoms" she explained it, defending herself. "It would only be correct if she died in that way."

"Yes, but it takes too much time" he answered, signing. "I know you want to do things right, but perhaps we should rescind of the ceremony of the First Men. A good old decapitation works just fine to get rid of the child murderers."

"Oh, and you would not announce her crime to all the North for them to know?"

"Love, I would yell her crimes to all the Seven Kingdoms for them to know if I could, but our son´s safety is our priority now" he said, a little bit more animated. "She already tried to kill him once, we have to act before she acts a second time. And, with what you have done today, is going to be sooner than later."

"Yes" Lyanna crossed her arms. "She told me she didn´t fear the bastard" she smiled. "She should fear his lady mother instead."

"And his prince father" Rhaegar passed a hand through his son´s locks again. "When are you going to be strong enough to try again, wife?"

"Well, with a normal sword it would take me at least a week to recover enough to wield it without losing my grip on it after a few minutes, but as Ice is so connected with me through my family… I believe I can do this tomorrow." She looked at him with a mischievous expression. "Can I count on you to care for him in my absence?"

"You know you can. Nothing is going to happen to him on my watch" the former Crown Prince said with conviction.

The next morning, Jon woke up early as always. For some reason, the boy felt really rested that morning, as if his dreams had healed something inside of him. He went to the Great Hall and broke his fast quickly, hoping to escape an early morning glaring match with Lady Stark. There he heard the rumours of an attack on her the previous night. They said that an invisible force dragged her downstairs and hung her on the hearth tree, nearly slicing him in half with House Stark´s ancestral sword. Wanting to know more, the Bastard of Winterfell paid attention to a set of guards that were conversing in a loud tone.

"… and she was hung over the hearth tree! From her ankle!" one of the men continued telling the tale to his companion, who was off guard the night before. "Ser Jory says that Lord Stark battled with the assassin for a bit before he fled, but never see the bloody man. It was as if he was a ghost!"

"Really?" the other said before drinking some warm wine. "I will say, the man had stones. Who would come after the Lady of Winterfell? And steal the ancestral sword of a Great House just to do it? His stones must be the size of mountains!"

"Do you know the woman was hanged exactly in the same way child murders were hanged before in the First Men´s Age?" they continued their talking in hushed tones now, wondering what she had done to deserve that. Soon, Jon understood why. Lady Catelyn his entered the Hall, slowly but proudly walking towards the High Table. As she passed him, before he could retreat towards his room, her eyes landed in him. They were full of hatred. Later in the courtyard, he saw the Lady of Winterfell overseeing her son´s training. Jon kept his abilities in check to avoid her hateful stare, but today there was no avoiding that. She apparently decided to go there only to make him feel his hateful glare in his back.

Unknown to her, another mother was mimicking her actions. One who can wield a sword and had only one thing in her mind: You are doomed, child murderer.

And, how it was? And thanks a lot for 11anjali16´s review, it gave me wonderful ideas for this chapter. And don´t worry, the final confrontation of mothers is going to be ready in the next chapter. Fish vs Wolf... hope not to the death, because the children needed their mother. Anyway, hope to heard about you soon. Review!


	7. Chapter 7

Hello! Thank you for being so patient. Here is the new chapter of Ghosts of Winterfell: Mama wolf vs Mama fish. Is the fish going to be rescued? Read and find!

"No one enters this room, am I clear?" said Ned to his guards before closing the door of his solar and unlatching the key. He then walked towards his room, not noticing when the damn thing slipped out of his pocket, courtesy of his sister. Lyanna smiled and waited for all to be sleepy or asleep to open the door and grab the sword. She walked in the shadows, directly to her good sister´s room.

Ned, for his part, couldn´t sleep. Maester Luwin´s words about the method of execution used to nearly murder his wife had stayed in his mind, turning him unable to find rest. It was reserved to child murderers and recently the only child in Winterfell who nearly died was Jon Snow. His sister´s child. His sister… the assassin had her voice. It was just a tenuous echo after so many years, but he could still remember how she sounded like. What would she had done if was she alive and Catelyn left her son outside in a blizzard? Nothing good, obviously. But it didn´t matter anymore. Lya was dead.

Grunting, the Lord of Winterfell got out of bed and walked towards the place his children slept in. Sansa´s room was the first. His pretty oldest daughter seemed to have inherited all of her mother´s blood, a southerner despite being born and raised in the north, and got the warmest rooms barring Catelyn´s. He stared at her from the door, peacefully watching her dream. Then did the same with Bran, Rickon and Robb, directing finally to fully northern Arya and Jon. Those two almost never felt cold, so they got the rooms closer to the windows. His daughter´s room was normal, now that only left…

"Father?" a nearly asleep Robb approached as a frozen Eddard was watching something he could only describe as a ghost. "What are you…" it only took him a second to find out what his father was looking at, nearly making him scream and dropping the candle he was holding. The sound alerted the spirit, but also woke Jon up. The boy opened his eyes only to see a stranger hovering over him, a translucent stranger on top of that, and jumped, falling from his bed. The spirit, however, just held out his hands and offered him one, which the brunette accepted a little bit reluctantly. He didn´t do anything more, except stare at Jon as if he was the most interesting thing in the world, so the other two decided to approach. "What is…"

"Rhaegar?" Eddard asked.

"Rhaegar? Rhaegar Targaryen? The man that kidnapped our aunt and…" a glare from his father shut Robb up before he could screw it. The Silver Prince just rolled his eyes. That lie Robert Baratheon had told being parroted by children always put him in a bad humour, but there was nothing he could do. At least not for now. "What is he doing here?"

"It´s a… long history" answered Ned before turning to the ghost. He couldn´t believe it, even with the proof in front of him. Ghosts were supposed to be a myth, but here Rhaegar was, a floating, translucent and slightly glowing presence despite being dead. "I mean, I know why he is here, but…" he passed a hand through the vision, hoping it would disappear. I, however, only raised an eyebrow. "Unbelievable."

"Tell me about it" Jon said, more interested now that the spirit was proved to be harmless. "But if he is Rhaegar Targaryen, what is he doing here? There is a long way from the Trident to here. Shouldn´t he be where he died?"

"Hum…" Eddard doubted for a moment before sighing. "I brought his bones here to burry alongside Lyanna´s" he confessed, earning an alarmed look from both his son and his nephew. "I discovered after the Rebellion that my sister went with him out of her own volition and… I guess you can decipher the rest" he shook his head. "That is not important. What I want to know is what he is doing here" the three passed a hand through the ghost at the same time, checking again that he was indeed real. "What are you doing here?"

Rhaegar tried to talk, but apparently, his voice couldn´t be used to communicate with the living and, as any of the men can read lips, this method was rendered useless. He sighed before floating towards the little desk and writing something. He held the paper before him, showing the three the message he had written in an elaborate calligraphy.

"My wife is trying to kill yours" read Robb in the loudest voice he dared, less he woke up his siblings. And he didn´t want that, a ghost would give them nightmares for a decade. The gods know it will. "I don´t understand. Why does princess Elia want to hurt mother?"

"_The other one_" appeared written in the paper.

"Lyanna?" asked Lord Stark, not wanting to believe his sweet sister would damage someone so close to him as his wife. But then again, Catelyn had never been warm or welcoming towards said lady´s son and Lyanna was anything but fierce. If someone incurred in her wrath… "Was Lyanna the one who hanged Catelyn from the tree?"

_YES_

"But why would aunt Lyanna want to hurt mother?" asked Robb without understanding. "And, if she really was your wife, why didn´t you stop her?" this one sounded more accusing, the boy giving the prince a glare. "You owe the Starks for your elopement with aunt Lyanna and the deaths…"

_"__Tried to warn you" _the letters started to appear on the paper as Rhaegar moved the quill. "_I have been trying to grab Lord Stark´s attention practically since we arrived, but he kept ignoring me. Then there was the mistreatment, the incident with the septa and when she left you trapped in the middle of a fucking blizzard, it was the last straw. I´m done protecting her from angry she wolves. _"

"Blizzard?" Eddard inquired, remembering the incident a few days prior. If the Targaryen was telling the truth, his wife has purposely closed the door on Jon to get rid of him, something he thought she was unable of. He was about to jump to the protection of his spouse, when Jon opened his mouth.

"How did you know about the blizzard?" the boy intervened, silencing the older brunette and making him stare at the boy in disbelieve.

"_Who do you think had to drag you from the stables to the castle after she left you freezing outside? Do you think you only magically appeared inside?_" at this point, Jon was willing to believe anything, but he had the sense of at least blushing after reading those words. "_By the way, don´t you ever turn your back on an untrustworthy person again! Especially in the middle of a freaking blizzard! You nearly gave me a heart attack!_"

"Ehhhh… sorry?" this was getting a little bit weird for the Bastard of Winterfell. Why would Rhaegar Targaryen, the princely possible husband or at least lover of his aunt, give a damn about Jon Snow, bastard of Eddard Stark? Whatever the reason, the boy was grateful. He felt a little bit more loved now. Then, surprisingly for no reason, the ghost turned to Lord Stark showing another message.

"_I thought you would take better care of him_"

"Look who is talking" said Eddard, suddenly fuming. He was offended, really, really offended that an idiot who let his two eldest children die and didn´t have the gall to live to raise the third was criticising his parenting. "I did the best that I could"

"You did what?" the two boys were now looking at him curious, wanting answers. Ned, knowing that he shouldn´t have let his tongue run loose, just shook his head.

"Anyway, we need to find Catelyn before Lyanna runs her through with a sword. Are you going to help us?" Rhaegar shook his head. Whatever his wife did to that red headed harpy was more than deserved, so he wasn't getting in the middle. Besides, the she wolf was scary when angry. Just ask the whoever had the honour to see one of her mood swings when she was pregnant. "Come on, boys."

"Shouldn´t we call the guards?" asked Robb to his brother before following his father.

"And tell them what? That we have to stop our ghost aunt before she guts your mother? Do you think someone is going to believe us?" the redhead shook his head and followed the light from the lamp Lord Stark had. While walking through the corridors towards the Lady of Winterfell´s room, the glowing ghost always on Jon´s side. Which was starting to get a little bit creepy. And more.

Why was the ghost following him? Or more, why had the spirits of a Targaryen prince and a Stark lady protected him of all people? The bastard son of the Lord of Winterfell? Why not the trueborn children? At first one could think it was because he was a child alone, without a mother and that appealed to Lyanna´s maternal side, but that didn´t explain Rhaegar unless he was a replacement for his dead children… but that also didn´t make sense. He didn´t have anything that could remind him of Aegon or Rhaenys… or did he? The bastard has never seen a picture of the murdered royal children.

"Why are you protecting me?" he asked directly to the prince, who stared back with his dead, sad eyes. "When I go to sleep, sometimes I feel that there is someone there, watching out for me. And sometimes I heard music in my dreams. Was that you? Were you singing those songs for me?"

Rhaegar nodded, proving what he had just thought. There was something, some kind of connection between him and the former heir to the throne. Singing, guarding, protecting… that sounded like what a protective spirit of a family member would do, just… not a political uncle. Not that he wasn´t thankful for the protection, but…

"Why are you following me?"

"Jon" Lord Stark interrupted before he could get the answer he wanted. The boy turned to the nobleman, crossing his arms. Everything have gone from weird to completely out of reality since the ghosts arrived. The protection, Lyanna trying to kill Catelyn, his singing voice (That was not their fault, but it added to the long list of oddities in him since no Stark could claim to have such a good voice, not even Sansa)… that was starting to put him on edge. He didn´t care what could happen to Lady Stark, he wanted answers now. And Eddard knew it. "Come on, we have to hurry."

"Lord Stark" he said in a calm voice, trying to keep his dark thoughts inside, hence the respectful address he only used in front of the man´s wife. "Can you please tell me about my mother?"

"Now?" the uncle answered, feeling a chill running down his spine. "Now is not the time…"

"On contrary, I think it´s the perfect time to tell me. It would ease my insecurities" Jon continued, not caring about Robb sending him a strange look. "So, milord, can you please tell me something about her? Her name at least? Where did you meet?"

"This is not the time, nor the place to discuss something like it" the other said, feeling he had been discovered. "Give me until the end of the night, okay? I will tell you everything by the end of the night."

"No" the Snow said, knowing full well that if he let him go, the man would find a way to weasel his way out of telling him. All liars do. "I want to know. NOW" the two were now locked into a staring contest, only angry and the other guilty and angry and ashamed at the same time. "Lord Stark…"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a scream coming from Catelyn´s bedroom alerted the people that Lyanna has already reached her destination. Robb and Ned dashed towards the Lady´s bedroom, while the bastard followed at his slow pace. He wondered for a second if he should be running, but the thought quickly disappeared from his mind. It was just the woman that tried to kill him, after all.

-In the room-

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Catelyn screamed as she dodged Ice´s blade. Lyanna kept trying to stab her with it, looking like some transparent wraith with a floral crown. The southerner has frozen when she saw her at first, but she quickly recovered and, before the northern could finish her, started to run. "GUARDS! GUARDS! NED!" it was no use, as the ghost made sure to put a heavy dose of nightshade in their drinks. "NED!"

"Come back here, you bitch!" the Knight of the Laughing tree ran behind her, still trying to separate his head from the rest of the body. "Come back here so I can kill you, child murderer! That way you will never put a hand on another child!"

"I don´t know what you are talking about!" said Lady Stark, despite knowing full well what she was meaning. I mean, you can´t just throw someone outside in the middle of a blizzard and forget it, even if you hate him or her. More if it was a child. "I would never put a hand on a child."

"And locking a door on them? When the temperature is dropping so much one could freeze to death in an hour?" the warrior woman continued swinging her sword. "You won´t put a hand on MY SON again."

"HELP ME! NED!"

"My idiot brother is not…"

"CATELYN!" Ned appeared, followed by Robb. They both stopped when they saw the ghost girl, her hair moving in spirals around her form. Having seen another ghost before, the boy recovered quickly and was about to ask her who she was, but his father beat him to it. "Lyanna"

"Hello, Ned" she said, anger flowing from her mouth. "I would say it´s a pleasure to see you again, big brother, but giving the circumstances, it isn´t" she moved her sword, cutting her good sister´s cheek. The Tully raised a hand towards it, feeling the blood escaping from the cut. "Now, if you excuse, I have a fish to gut…"

"I won´t allow you to hurt her" Eddard answered, his eyes flickering from the spirit´s face to the sword in her hands. He could try to disarm her, but that would be a mistake. Lyanna was a prodigy with the sword, so much that only with her secret informal training, she managed to disarm Brandon. And Eddard and Benjen. "It´s my fault this is happening. Catelyn didn´t know anything…"

"She shouldn´t have tried to murder a child!" screamed the girl, blocking the fish´s way with the Valyrian sword. "I always knew you would marry for duty and possibly bring a horrible skank home, but never in my wildest dreams I thought you would defend her actions after committing such a horrible crime. Have you no shame? No morals?"

"Catelyn was misguided by her feelings and my actions, don´t blame her, blame me"

"You weren´t the one who pushed my son outside and locked him out in the middle of a freaking blizzard!"

"Yes, I know! And I won´t do it, because I love the boy!" Eddard felt something breaking inside of him and suddenly he was very angry. And his tongue was loose too, as if he no longer had control of it. So much he didn´t even notice Jon approaching from behind, cool as a cucumber. "And who gave you the right to act maternal towards Jon after everything that happened?"

"I´m his mother!"

"You gave birth to him, yes… but guess what? I raised him!" Rhaegar, alarmed, tried to get between his wife and her brother to stop violence, but Ned gave him such a look that he froze on the spot. "Do shut up" uttered the northern lord before turning back to his sister. "I guess you and this idiot actually deserve each other, no? Both of you were the same, throwing duty out of the window at the first chance to go to bed and…"

"Ned…"

"And you didn´t even stayed there enough time to face the consequences of your actions! I had to do it, sullying my honour to protect my nephew, a boy your great elopement left orphaned despite it being a risk to my family and to the entire North…"

"Father, stop…"

"And make such a mess in my marriage and having to lie to a person daily… do you know how bad I feel every time I have to look straight to him and lie about his origins? The face he puts when I deny him the name of his mother, the guilt I have to stand every time someone calls him a bastard… all I have done for you…" anger flared again inside, as he told his sister everything that he had been holding inside. "All because you two idiots in love couldn´t think more than in yourselves and to hell if the world around you collapsed with a lunatic on the throne and a war in the horizon!"

"Did you take everything out, uncle dear?" commented Jon, having heard more than enough to answer all of his questions. He didn´t really liked it and it was possible that later, once he had processed everything he would freak out, but for now, finally knowing his mother and father was a good thing. He stared at his mother, drinking in her appearance, barely noticing Catelyn crawling away from her. A few meters away the Tully lady got into her feet and started running, catching Lyanna´s attention again and reassuming the chase. The now fully aware of his heritage Targaryen just stared before following his mother.

"Father?" said Robb shyly.

"What?" answered Eddard, a little bit cutting after his tongue lashing. He felt completely drained and ready to go to bed, but first he had to stop his sister, once and for all. Then he will deal with Catelyn and her crime, Jon´s questions and possible hate and the fallout of this disastrous encounter, but for now…

"I just remembered that… when we scared Sansa the other day in the crypts, she threw her sewing kit at us and it hit something, I don´t know what" the older Stark raised an eyebrow. Was he suggesting that… "You told us once that the swords kept the spirits inside the tomb, so could it be that it hit… aunt Lyanna´s sword?"

"Could be. Let´s find out" father and son went to the crypts as fast as they could, finding Lyanna´s tomb without the sword. Immediately, they started searching for the damn thing until Robb managed to find it near uncle Brandon´s tomb. Not losing a second, the boy put the sword on the statue´s hands. They waited for a moment, hoping to see the ghosts returning to the tomb, but nothing out of the ordinary happened.

"Did it work?"

"I hope, because no force of nature could stop my sister when she has made her mind on something" answered Lord Stark, returning to the inside of the castle. Inside he found two things he hoped never to deal with: a scared and angry as hell Catelyn Tully and a very distraught Jon. He sighed and turned to them. "I think I owe you an explanation."

"You know, UNCLE, you can keep your explanations. I don´t give a shit" said the boy, turning around to go to his room, making sure to close the door as hard as he could to make the others hear his displeasure. And no one can blame him. For some hours that night he had parents, parents that loved him and… that has been a dream come true. But just like a dream, it had to end.

"Ned, I…" Catelyn tried to excuse herself, but her husband just raised a hand, silencing her.

"In the morning" he said with a voice as frozen as his expression. "I will decide what to do with you in the morning."

I know, I know, everybody wanted to see Lyanna gutting Catelyn like the cold fish she is, but while I was searching for inspiration, I read some of your reviews and thought that perhaps death was not what she deserved. She deserved something much worse and for that I needed her alive. So now the desicion is all to poor Ned, but he is so tired... well, represed feelings getting out tends to do that to you. And rest also gives you a lot of time to think about what to do in situations like this, so... which door is Ned going to choose:

Door N° 1: To continue living in Winterfel, but in disgrace and not being recognized as lady of it anymore.

Door N° 2: Exile from Winterfell. Being sent to Riverrun in disgrace and never seeing her children again.

Door N° 3: Send to the faith so Ned could take another wife. Or to the Wall. I always wanted to find out if the Danny Flint incident could repeat itelf.

Vote and read!


	8. Chapter 8

And here, the nearly last chapter of Ghosts of Winterfell. Only one more chapter to know the end! Hope you enjoy it.

"I hate this place. I hate everything" said Jon, staring into the ceiling. He had been unable to sleep all night, his anger and pain preventing any dream to come to his mind. It was just that… he had never felt like this before. So enraged, so sad, so… so betrayed. This later was the part that really hurt. The man he believed was his father, the one he thought would never lie to him so blatantly… betrayed him, lie to him, take him for a fool. And what´s worse, he took his newfound parents away from him.

Hummmm, parents; he took his arm away from his face; it was strange. All his live he only had one father, but now… now he had both a mother and a father. They were ghosts, but they cared for him more than Lord Stark ever did. He felt so save with them around him, so… so protected. That´s why it hurt so much to have them torn from his side to fast. Like something in his chest have been ripped out and the hole left bleeding for days.

And what it was worse, he didn´t know anymore who he was. Thanks to his uncle´s lies, the Bastard of Winterfell was born, but that was not who he was. He was no Jon Snow, son of Eddard Stark and an unknown woman, bane of his lady wife´s existence… well, perhaps the last one still was applicable to him, but that was just a tiny part of what he was. Another pretty small parts were the hidden son of Lyanna and Rhaegar Targaryen, the dragon heir to a throne he didn´t want, the… the… Gods, then it struck him. He didn´t even know his own name. his mother must have given him one when he was born and it was definitely not Jon. She wasn´t inspired by anyone named Jon after all.

He got up in a second, trying to decide what to do. Should he march to his uncle´s solar and demand his name from him? At this hour of the night he was most probably asleep… could he even sleep after such an experience? Most likely no, but Jon wasn´t feeling up to see him so soon after the terrible event. He hung his face, nearly resigned to have to talk to Ned Stark when something caught his eyes. There were papers on his desk that weren´t there when he got to sleep. He picked them up and noticed two different sets of handwritings. On known, Prince Rhaegar´s, and the other new. Shaking a bit, he opened the first letter.

_To my dear Aelyx,_

_I don´t know where to begin this letter. I suppose you would want me to apologize for dying, but the true is that I would do it again if the choice was presented to me. Between your life and mine, I mean. What I really want to apologize for is being a fool. We, me and your father, didn´t thought things right when we eloped to marry. Had we been more careful, more intelligent, your life would have been very different. Less difficult and dangerous. For that, I solemnly ask our forgiveness._

_Other thing I want to tell you is that, no matter what tale your uncle spin around me with his oaf friend and that old falcon, I loved your father with all my hearth. And I love you more than anything else in the world. I cherished those few precious minutes I got to hold you in that Tower that would become my last place in live and do it even more now that I know the great person you are becoming, my dear little dragonwolf._

_I hope you read this letter before you do your father´s too, because Rhaegar always believed you had a destiny. Yes, I found it quite a little pathetic in the beginning, but also cute how much he believed in childhood histories and prophecies. Whatever he says in his letter, I don´t want you to feel forced to do something you don´t want. Always be yourself, my son, remember this and, prophecy or no, live as free as you can. Be yourself, that was I always wanted to be and what I want for you._

_Last, if that petty little wife of my brother bothers you ever again after tonight, remind her that you are not alone. And that I´m probably not the only ghost who wants to put my hands on her southern neck. To my dear big brother, tell him thank you for nothing. He promised to take care of you, and what did he do? He screwed up, as always. Also, tell him his taste in names is horrible. Robb… what kind of name is that for Starks? I always knew he admired the wrong people in live, but didn´t think it would go so bad. And naming you for that falcon! Jon Arryn was a power grabbing social escalator, Robert Baratheon a foolish brute and letting his little wife name the girl was an absolute mistake. She ended almost as empty headed as that idiot of his wife! Weren´t there other Stark women she could have admired more?_

_Oh, and I almost forget, did you like your name? The first Aelyx Targaryen was just a Lord of Dragonstone, but I thought his name would fit you better than any other. Your father wanted a kingly or princely name, but I ended up having the last word, so I picked one of the least known names so you could live with it. My brother didn´t need to change it… Anyway, I guess it gave you extra protection, for what I should be grateful, but my choice was still better, don´t you think?_

_Anyway, soon in the future we will have to return to our graves but, even you can´t see us anymore, don´t doubt that we are at your side. Forever and ever._

_With all my love, your dear mother Lyanna._

Aelyx Targaryen lowered the letter, feeling his hearth somehow more complete. He couldn´t help but think for a second that, had things worked out as his father intended, he would have been the first prince Aelyx, perhaps even the first king of that name… but just to think about the kind of work it would take to run a kingdom. And to take the throne now would take too many lives, lives he was not willing to sacrifice for personal gain. That didn´t mean he would just stay in Winterfell doing nothing, he would… find his own way.

Trying to clear his head, he opened the second letter and prepared himself to read whatever message the Silver Prince left for him. The man seemed melancholic the short time he had known him and his mother described him as a believer in prophecies. Which in turn mean that he probably had one for one, he must fulfil. Well, he hoped he didn´t feel much disappointed on him because him not following his so called destiny.

_My dear son,_

_First of all, I want to say that your name was not my idea to name you Aelyx. I have always considered Valyrian names to be a mouthful, but I cannot really complain, as I named my children with them. And I wanted Jaeherys or Aemon or even Daeron… you mother complained about each of those names. They were too overused in her opinion._

_I guess you were already told a version of how I met your mother, at the Tourney of Harrenhal that Fateful year of the Fake Spring. Perhaps the history is plainly awful or romantic in your eyes, but I assure you it is more complicated than it is usually told as. You probably already know that I didn´t rape your mother, so I will skip that part too. _

_During Harrenhall, when my plans to stage Rebellion against my vicious troll of a father failed thanks to Varys, one really able knight appeared on the tilts. He beat three other knights easily and only demanded they teach their squires honour as ransom. Unfortunately, this caught the attention of the King who, in his immense madness, ordered his Kingsguard, me and a bunch of Lords to apprehend the knight when he refused to uncover his face. He escaped without a word and we went after him to avoid more destruction. Richard Lonmouth and Robert Baratheon were with us at the beginning, but the oaf of a man took another way. Anyway, Arthur and I kept in track and finally found him… or her._

_And, before I say anything more, I would appreciate if you keep this secret for me. If Robert Baratheon ever finds out, he will laugh himself to the afterlife and back. Well, there is no turn around it. Lyanna was very talented with a sword, so much that she managed to disarm both me and Arthur. She took me hostage to escape the Kingsguard, taking me away from them and tying me to a tree. Your mother changed out of her armour quickly, leaving it behind to hide, but made the mistake of talking to me while she did so. From that conversation I managed to find out who she was. She was a woman after my hearth and definitely a Stark of Winterfell. I planned a little revenge on her after that, one that ended backfiring on me, when I gave her that damn flower crown. It initially only meant to tell her that I knew exactly who the knight was, but everything got out of control very fast after that. And we felt in love._

_Thirdly, I think Lyanna must have mentioned something in her own letter about me believing in prophecies, specially the prophecy of the prince who was promised… Well, she is right, I have always believed in it. However, I never meant for you to be pressured to fulfil it. I think destiny will find a way to fulfil itself, in the case the prophecy is real. Hear to your mother´s advice and live your life. If you turn out to be the Hero of the Battle for the Morning, then I´m sure the world is in the best hands possible._

_I´m so proud of you,_

_Your loving father, Rhaegar Targaryen_

He needed a few minutes to whip the tears from his eyes. His father was all his mother had said and more. He just wished he could have more time to know Rhaegar as a father… to know both of them. But that will probably never happen, as the ghosts were vanished by Lord Stark. Never had he felt more anger for his uncle before.

Trying to distract himself, he hid the letters the best he could, in an old glory box Arya had given him in one of his many namedays. While he was doing this, a silver chain felt from the envelope of Rhaegar´s letter. He grabbed it, lifting it up to his eyes. Attached to the chain was a little medal of Valyrian steel with the Targaryen symbol engraved, he turned it and managed to distinguish letters on the other side. He brought it closer to the fire, searching for light to read it:

_Follow the path of Aerea without fear_

_Paddle between the grey and the decay_

_Jump into the fire that consumes even itself_

_Careful for the forgotten who your spirit search_

_Sing your soul´s bravery while you fall in his despair_

_As only the valiants will ever be free for the morning to came_

The words left him thinking, what did that mean? It was as cryptic as the prophecies his birth father was so fond of. Well, even so. This necklace must have belonging to his mother at some point, as there was no other explanation as to why a Targaryen necklace was in Winterfell. He secured the chain around his neck, letting it hang. Then he pulled a mirror, other of Arya´s gifts, out to see his reflexion. The necklace looked really good on him, despite his northern appearance… hummm, not so northern now that he sees it. He definitely had some Valyrian factions that gave him a sharper appearance than any Stark before him.

"I guess I should say goodnight" he said to no one in particular before laying down again in bed, trying to get to sleep. There was no use. His mind kept going back to the betrayal, the loneliness, the sensation of hollowness in his chest… he couldn´t do anything to sleep. Not even completely cocooned in the warm safety of his blankets. With nothing else to do, he started to sing, hoping it would soothe him to sleep.

"High in the halls of the kings who are gone

Jenny would dance with her ghosts

The ones she had lost and the ones she had found

And the ones who had loved her the most"

-The morning after-

"I think we can move to more advanced le…" maester Luwin was saying when suddenly the door of the library opened and in went Catelyn Stark, holding both her firstborn son and Theon Greyjoy by the ears. The maester half expected Jon Snow to disappear between the shelves as he always did, but the child in question didn´t move. He stayed there, completely ignoring the lady. And, for some reason, she returned the favour, which was somehow more terrifying than the usual hostility.

"Maester Luwin" she started, pushing her wayward son and the kraken to their seats. "Robb and Theon here seemed to have been skipping lessons with you to train in the yard. You should pick up their lessons exactly where they left them."

"It will be a little difficult, my lady, as Jon here has attended all…"

"Robb´s preparation for being Lord of Winterfell is more important than anything" said the woman, completely ignoring her step son despite him being pretty visible from her point of view. The boy returned the favour, closing his own reading material to return it to the shelf. "I will make sure my son and ward attends their lessons from now on, so they put themselves up to date. Good day, maester."

"Of course. Good day, my lady." Luwin said before apologetically turning to his other charge. "I´m sorry, Jon. It seems we will have to postpone your advanced lessons until Lord Robb and Lord Theon put themselves back on tracks."

"Don´t worry, maester, I was thinking about learning something else anyway and using this time for doing it would honestly be great" the boy said, going to the shelves and pulling a big High Valyrian dictionary. The teacher raised an eyebrow, but didn´t ask. Jon has been changed since this morning, so much that he barely recognized the timid boy that used to be his disciple. But he would ask Lord Stark later, as now he had more important things to do.

"Well, let´s start again where we left it, milords" he pulled two books from the shelve and dropped them in front of the boys. "The reign of Maegor the Cruel…"

"Why do we have to learn this ancient shit? It´s already passed and not happening again" said Theon, dropping his head into his still unopened book. Robb opened his, a little bit more interested in history now that he knew ghosts were real. "We could be doing something important, like practising our swordsplay or going to Wintertown…"

"Who doesn´t learn from history is condemned to repeat it" muttered Jon cryptically, catching the ironborn´s attention. Suddenly the place felt a lot less warm, at least in Robb´s opinion, as the wolf and the kraken were about to clash. Or was it the dragon and the kraken?

"What does that mean?"

"It means that if you continue being the whoremonger idiot you are now, you will find yourself in more trouble than you can handle in the future."

"As if I would ever need to deal with a sadistic maniac in the future" the Greyjoy opened his book, not paying attention in the least to the maester´s lesson. Then he stared at Jon, who kept to himself while reading his dictionary. "You are different since this morning" commented the older boy, looking at Robb´s brother… cousin… whatever. "What happened to you?"

"Why so interested?"

"I don´t know, it´s just… you are too different and I felt like I lost something important. What might that be?" the ironborn tapped on his chin. "Oh, I know now, Lord Stark must have told you who your mother is!" suddenly Theon was much more interested in the Targaryen in the room, making the boy´s frown deepen. "And? Who was she, bastard? Was she some whore from Wintertown as I told you she would be."

"Watch it" hissed the other furiously, while Robb sucked on a breath. He half expected his aunt Lyanna to appear out of nothing to chase Theon with a sword in her hand. But then he also realised that there was someone as much dangerous as her in the room.

"Theon, please, keep it…"

"I´m just wondering, you know. She must have had quite the moves to make your stiff father forget about his honour enough to pump him into her. Or maybe she had the greatest teats in the brothel…" a hand found it´s way into the ironborn´s neck really fast, choking him. "Le… Let me go!"

"If you dare to say another word…"

"Boys, that´s enough!" maester Luwin decided to intervene in that same moment. Jon released his uncle´s ward and, with a last cold look at the kraken, he grabbed his book and went to the darker corners of the library, where he would be able to read in peace. The teacher took a look at Theon´s neck. It was bruised but nothing too bad.

"I´m telling Lord Stark about it… damn bastard" coughed Theon.

"I think you might be out of luck with that" commented Robb, knowing that Jon would probably ignore his father´s commands from now on. And he won´t blame him, as the man lied to him for all his life. He would also be a little bit sceptic about him. Mad as hell too. "I will go to see how he is." The heir of Winterfell walked towards the back of the library, finding Jon sitting down there under a lamp. "I knew I would find you here, Jon."

"Aelyx"

"What?"

"Aelyx, that´s my name. Your father seemed to think he should change it, but now that I know the truth, I don´t give a damn about his reasons" he passed a page. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to see if everything was alright with you."

"You don´t have to"

"I do! You have just undergo life changing events and, as your brother…"

"Am I?" the brunette raised his head, biting his lip. "I come from different parents and am a threat to your family, besides that…"

"Do you think I care?" Robb said in a very serious voice. "That you are not my brother by blood? Our bloods were always different and I didn´t care then. Do you think so little of me that I would spurn you just because you come from aunt Lyanna? We grew up together, we played together, we laughed and suffered together… a little bit more and we would have been twins. We are brothers, now and ever."

"Now and ever" Aelyx smiled, putting a hand over his brother´s. "Are you not mad my mother wanted to kill yours."

"Between you and me, I believe she deserved it a bit"

-In the lord´s solar-

"Come, I have come up with a decision regarding our situation" the lord of Winterfell said while his wife took a seat in front of him. "I thought seriously about sending you back to Riverrun because of what you did…"

"Dare to do that and I will go straight to the king to tell him everything about your little secret" she threatened. She could stand many things, but sent back to her family home in dishonour or to the faith was not a shame she could stand. Her pride wouldn´t allow for it. "See how your beloved nephew does then. He might end up in a pyre if the king decides to be gentle with him."

"I know, and that´s why I won´t send you back" Ned answered, returning her glare. "I can´t trust you to keep the secret. Out of the North you would be a danger for all. For that, I´m allowing you to stay and not returning you South. But believe me when I say your abuses against my nephew are over. From now on, you will have no power over him or over Winterfell anymore. I will instruct the servants to ignore your commands regarding him and tell them that there would be severe repercussions for doing so" they glared at each other for a second. "and make no mistake, my lady. I´m keeping you here for the sake of peace and our children, but we aren´t husband and wife anymore. My will has been written and it says now that, in case of my untimely death, you will stay in North, but will not be Robb´s advisor or regent, nor have any power over Winterfell."

"Fine" Catelyn said, getting up in a rage. "Like I would want to be the wife of a traitor"

She stormed out, leaving Eddard sitting in the darkness. His hearth clenched a bit at this, but he knew deep inside that this was for the best. His southern wife was never meant for live on the north, as the life of a bastard wasn´t for Jon. It was too late to apologize now, but he hoped he could reconstruct his relationship with his nephew. If he would have him.

What do you think? Ned is going to be able to regain Jon´s trust on him after all this? the only thing I know is that he is going to try. Hope you liked the poem in the medal, but feel free to criticise if you like. I never trusted my poetry too much, specially in english. You see, my mother language is spanish and poetry can be difficult even in your own language, let´s not talk about another. Anyway, in relation with the votation last time, I did read all the preferences and votes, but I put some weight into the opinions accompaning them and the reasons of why one punishment and not another. This ended up being the result. And if you think it carefully, it´s the best, as neither Jon nor the children are going to be harmed because of Catelyn´s actions anymore and she is being punished, practically being put aside as the wife. Anyway, this is all. Thank you so much for your support! Review!

Hey, I´m reposting this chapter after someone pointed out that Sansa is a nothern name and corrected me. I´ve have overlooked the origin of the name Sansa and thank you for pointing me out.


	9. Chapter 9

And, at last, here is the last chapter. A surprise chapter will appear in this one... well, two. Hope you like them.

"Do you wanted to see me, Lord Stark?" Aelyx said when he was summoned to his uncle´s solar the next morning. He had a whole day to cool down, something that had seemed impossible with his newfound dragon temper taking control of his mood. He looked around to make sure Lady Catelyn was not there, as he wasn´t sure he could face her now without killing her. Fortunately, she was not. Perfect. "If you are going to give me excuses…"

"It´s not that, I… wanted to see how are you taking it. From how you are answering, it must have hit you hard" the other brunette raised an eyebrow. Hitting him hard, that was a way of putting it. Finding out that your father, the one you have known your entire life, is not your father and that you are not even a bastard in one night could HIT YOU HARD. "Jon, I want you to understand the position I am in, the position the whole family…"

"Was he really so important to you?" asked the boy, interrupting him. The Lord stared at him without understanding, trying to find an answer in those formerly expressive frozen grey pools. "Robert Baratheon, I mean. Was he really so important to you?" Ned tried to come with a satisfactory answer, but he didn´t seem to have one planned. "Because I think he was, more than your own blood."

"Jon…"

"What did I say about excuses?" the other said, frowning. The Lord cringed, not recognizing the child he raised anymore. Jon was a quiet and demure boy, not this… angry one. Angry, but truthful. And somehow the words hurt more than the swords of the Kingsguard that fateful day in front of the Tower of Joy. "You threw me away, ME, your own flesh and blood, for someone that´s not even related to you by marriage."

"Robert Baratheon won the Throne by…"

"By being the heir of Rhaelle Targaryen, according to some maesters I read in the library. Which puts my claim as Aerys heir over his, something you and your foster father wouldn´t like, no?" what? Why was Jon pulling Jon Arryn into this? "You see, I wanted to bathe in the history of my own House and, as you won´t teach me…"

"Targaryen history…"

"It´s the history of the Seven Kingdoms and part of my legacy"

"Why are you so eager to claim it? You have only known it for a few days!" the dark look his nephew sent his way told him he made a mistake. The boy raised from his seat, using all the noble air he could summon.

"Why? Why?! Because it´s better than being a bastard without a name, legacy or any other thing to call my own! Without even a mother to give me the love your children paraded in front of my eyes!" he yelled, finally letting out the years of frustration and repressed fury at the mistreatment he suffered in the hands of Catelyn. "I took the brunt of your bitch of a wife´s hate without a complain, and why? Because I was the bastard, that was supposed to be my role, to let her bent her anger on me to apologize for existing…"

"Don´t take Catelyn into this, I already talked with her and…"

"It´s not enough! For all the things she did to me, it was not enough!" he snarled, banging his fists on the desk. "You let her threat me like trash to sell your ruse, despite knowing full well that I didn´t deserve that…"

"I´m sorry for that, but it was my mistake, not hers…"

"UNCLE" the young Targaryen said, cutting him before he could continue. "That woman tried to kill me and you are still putting excuses for her, as you do for a man who would rather see me dead like my brother and sister than leave me alive if he knew I existed. They are clearly more important to you than me" he turned around, storming out of the solar. "It was a nice chat, very clarifying."

"Where are you going?!"

"To find a way to return my parents to this world, so I could have people who actually care about me!" Lord Stark let himself fall into his chair again, putting his hands on his face. The Gods forbid Jon from learning the secret of the swords, because if he managed to bring those two ghostly fools back to this world, he didn´t want to know what could happen. Especially now that Lyanna developed a bloodthirst in death that she didn´t have when alive.

Just outside the solar, in the hallway, Catelyn was listening to her husband´s chat with her bastard nephew. Part of her was a little bit relieved that her Ned never stranded from the marriage bed, but the other, stronger, part was worried about what the boy was going to do with the knowledge he had about his heritage. He could get it into his head that he could get Winterfell or, Gods forbid, challenge his rightful king for the Iron Throne. Anyway, her family would end up losing just because her Ned was too soft hearted to deny his sister´s dying wish. It was definitive, the boy needed to go.

But getting rid of him wouldn´t be so easy. After all, if killing a dragon were easy, Aegon the Conqueror wouldn´t have been able to unify the whole continent. And the king… his attitude towards Targaryens had to be taken into consideration too. She had to do it carefully or her entire family could end up with their heads removed along with the bastard. Her children… she couldn´t let anything to happen to them. That´s why she was going to ask for help to an expert in Southern politics, her dear friend Petyr. She already had the letter drafted, ready to be sent to the Master of Coin. Now she only needed to avoid maester Luwin, who was tasked to read all her correspondence before she sent it to make sure she won´t betray her husband´s secret.

The opportunity came in the afternoon, when the old man was tasked with healing Theon Greyjoy´s new set of injuries after the sparring match. Apparently, the bastard decided that now that he had royal blood, he could beat trueborn without consequences, so decided to give the ironborn a few strikes for insulting his mother. In Catelyn´s opinion, Lyanna Stark deserved each of the words out of Theon´s mouth, but she couldn´t actually voice her opinion here in Winterfell, where the Lady was beloved by everyone. Anyway, once she was sure Luwin was busy with a nasty bruise on Theon´s chest, she dashed towards the rookery, searching for the raven destined to King´s Landing.

"Where is that damn…" suddenly, the scroll on her hands flew from it and felt on the edge of the rockery, where a thin layer of ice made very dangerous for someone to step in. the Tully woman doubted before approaching, calling her goodsister´s name. "Lyanna?" no one answered. He thought herself silly, Ned already told her his sister was gone for good. The redhead walked and got to her knees to grab her scroll when she was pushed through the window, barely managing to grasp the border. "Lyanna!"

"Lyarra, little girl" a ghostly woman appeared in the border, her face reminding her a bit of the bastard´s mother, but with a stern expression only a matron could have. And the name… "Tell my dear son that next time he forcefully returns the death to the Death, he better makes sure that he does with them all."

"Are you Ned´s mother?" asked Catelyn, fighting to keep herself alive, hanging from the edge of the rookery. The other ghostly looked down at her, as if she wasn´t worthy of stepping on the same floor as her. "If you are his mother, you have to save me. I´m your good daughter, his rightful wife. The mother of his children" the redhead tried to keep herself in this life, trying to appeal to her maternal side, but Lyarra´s face continued to be frozen. "Please, don´t leave your grandchildren without a mother."

"I believe they would be better without you. All six of them" she said, pressing her foot on Catelyn´s fingers, with aims for her to drop. The fish plummeted to the ground with a scream, falling right in the courtyard, painting the stones with her blood. "Ned and Lyanna are idiots, both of them" she said, shaking her head. "One for blind, another for her knacks for the dramatics" the Stark matriarch frowned. "She should have just stabbed her with a sword."

"My mother didn´t have a knack for the dramatics" another voice said. The ghost turned around to see her second eldest grandson, her daughter´s son, holding a scroll in one hand. "Thank you by the way, grandmother. I saw her leaving for the rookery and had the feeling that she would rat me out." He shook his head. "But my mother wasn´t dramatic."

"Don´t try that with me, boy. Your mother lost time when she should have just gutted the fish that way. But no, the great Princess Lyanna Targaryen had to kill her in that overly dramatic way" she huffed. "I don´t know where she got that from. Neither Rickard or I were like that… but perhaps she got that from your father. With all his performances and playing for the crowds… his dramatics could have stuck to her."

"I don´t have any comment to counter that" the kid rolled the scroll on his fingers, thinking about his father and his strange attitudes. Really, a dramatic flare wouldn´t be the strangest thing he had. "I should flick this into the fire… after reading it."

"Great that you have a head on your shoulders. Your cousins, on the other side" Lyarra crossed his arms. "Rickard was a good man, but he let himself be manipulated by that worm from the Reach too much. Should have been there to avoid my husband putting out House in peril by mingling with the South. Just look at how that resulted" the matriarch crossed his arms. "Most of my grandchildren are naïve fools and you a depressed one."

"They aren´t fools…"

"Take a look at your cousin Sansa and tell me she isn´t a sheep eyed fool" the tusk of her tongue told him how low she thought of Catelyn. "An example of why southerners only bring bad things. Who said women had to be stupid to become great ladies?" she shook her head. "You better get out of here before someone comes up to investigate."

"Perhaps" the boy turned around, ready to disappear.

"And Aelix" Lyarra called him once more, putting on a more compassionate and grandmotherly face. "Soon you are going to begin to have certain dreams… or perhaps you already have. About the crypts and the secret that was buried inside it a long time ago" she passed a ghostly hand through his hair. "When that happens don´t be afraid or despair, it will reveal itself to you when you are ready, so you can follow the path of Aerea."

"Wasn´t Aerea brutally murdered by some human faced worms?"

"I see you know your history" he nodded. "Good, those southerners need some good northern strength. That will probably do them some good." The ghostly grandmother smiled at him. "Yes, she did. But she was scared and alone, an easy prey for the forgotten. You won´t be" she caressed his hair again. "With the secret of the crypts, you won´t have to do this alone as she was. They will be utterly loyal to you, I´m sure of it." She stared at him worriedly. "Just don´t be afraid. When you start the quest for the Dawn, fear will be your enemy."

"I will remember that"

"You must go now. Someone already found the fish down there and is coming here" her grandson nodded and walked away, hiding in the darkness. It was disturbing how good he was at it, being a prince by birth and everything. She sighed, giving herself some pats on the shoulder for killing that disgusting Tully. "Now, where is that damn son of mine? He is overdue for a talking to with his dear mother."

-A few minutes later-

"What happened to you?" asked Benjen. He had just arrived from the Wall, finding his good sister dead after falling from the rookery. The Ranger went to offer his condolences to his brother, only to find him cowering under his desk, hiding from some imaginary assaulter. "You look as if you have seen a ghost."

"You could say that… get down here before she catches you!"

"Woow, Catelyn´s death must have hit you hard if you are seeing…"

"BENJEN STARK!" a voice he thought he wasn´t going to hear again spoke behind him in an energetic way. the terrified younger Stark turned around to find himself face to face with his mother, one he could barely remember, as she died when he was very young. Scared out of his wits, he took a few steps back while the ghost was busy giving him a tongue lashing. "… to go off gallivanting with the Night´s Watch. What were you thinking?!"

"Mother" said the watchman, bumping against the desk.

"Well, at least you didn´t make the same garrafal mistakes that you brother here. I don´t know what you think, but he is a bloody fool!"

"Why does he gets the tongue lashing and I the sword nearly cleaving me in half?" asked Eddard, suddenly making Benjen reverse to their early childhood, when Lyarra would scold them that way. Something he never thought to see in his full grown brother again. Then he noticed Ned was rubbing his backside. And Ice on Lyarra´s hand.

"She spanked you in the rear? With the sword?" he made an effort not to laugh as his brother put on a shamed face. It would be too cruel to his recently widowed brother. "Woow… I mean… First Catelyn and then…"

"Yes, Catelyn… why don´t you ask mother what happened to my wife?" he stared at their mother with a glare, an angry but still not hateful one. "Why? What did she do to earn your ire, mother?"

"How about her torturing my grandson and turning the other ones into idiots? I did a favour to our House and this is how you pay me! You should be ashamed of yourself, Eddard Stark!" the sword shook on her hand, making her sons flinch. "Rickard made a disaster with that match and you know it. Almost as big a disaster as Lyanna´s betrothal."

"Robert was a worthy…"

"Your stag friend was a manwhore unworthy of the shittiest whore, let alone a fierce lady of House Stark. And quit trying to excuse him, because that´s not working with me. You knew he was not going to change for any woman or man or being in the whole Seven Kingdoms" she put his hands on his hips, still holding the sword in a dangerous way. "Keeping that worm of a maester was the worst decision of your father´s life…"

"He was working for the North"

"Yes, he believed that" she said with a sorrowful voice. "Making political alliances is important, I know, specially between two Great Houses, but to arrange a match with one of the most devout followers of the Seven? If he wanted an alliance with the Riverlands, he should have asked the Blackwoods. They at least have some northern heritage and respect for our gods. Unlike the Tully´s."

"Mother, a great house…"

"Ned, listen to yourself, do you even know what you are talking about? Have you ever asked the bannermen what they thought of your wife? House Stark has always been a defendant of the Old Gods, but you built a sept on the heart of the North for your southern wife. Do you know how that make them feel? It´s a bloody betrayal, Ned!"

"The… they would have…"

"In fact, Ned, she is right" Benjen said crossing his arms. "I have dinned with some of your bannermen on my travels from the Wall to here and even Wyman Manderly wasn´t very fond of your wife. And the others believe that you are betraying the Gods by placing that sept on Winterfell."

"Okay, Okay! I admit I was mistaken, sorry! I will demolish it!" finally accepted Lord Stark, tired of being patronised by his mother. "You didn´t have to kill Cat to…"

"Ned, she betrayed you. She was about to send a raven to King´s Landing with your secret, to get rid of your nephew. Seven Hells, son, she already tried to murder him once, did you really thought she was not going to try again? Southern bitches like her always do, because they are fond to blame innocents for their problems" she sighed. "I loved your father with all my hearth, but he really spoiled you all with his southern ambitions."

"What? Lord Arryn raised me with honour…"

"Raised you as a fool, I believe you want to say. Because one thing is honour, something great leaders keep but know when to set aside to do what must be done for their people, and another utter stupidity, to the level that one is easy to manipulate" her sons stared at her in wonder. "And selling our daughter to an utterly unworthy whoremonger…"

"They were betrothed, it was her duty…"

"Duty my ass, the man was a pig. Lyanna was sweet enough to him, letting him live. I would have not" the woman declared, staring at her son in a way that made him cringe. "Now, here is what we are going to do" she continued, matter of factly. "You are going to demolish that sept like you said you were going to and recover the faith of your bannermen by fostering your children and strike commercial arrangements in favour of the North."

"Mother…"

"You are going to kick that septa out of here and arrange to bring a proper northern governess for your eldest daughter before it´s too late to kick the stupidity out of her. And your squid hostage is going to be treated as he deserves from now on, not like a ward" she said, without caring about what her son was about to say. "I believe both Aelyx and the younger girl will enjoy a stay in Bear Island and your heir with the Karstarks. That should be distance enough to make him put some distance with the ironborn…"

"I am Lord of Winterfell, mother, I make the decisions. And the children…"

"What did you just say?" Benjen decided to make a strategic retreat before his brother really learned what the Wrath of Lyarra Stark really was. After all, the children would need the comfort more than his brother right now. They must be heartbroken! In his way towards the family quarters he found Lyanna´s boy, trying to make a translation of some Valyrian book to Westron.

"You know, in the Wall there is a maester who would gladly help you learning the language" the boy jumped a bit, startled, then he got up to embrace his uncle. "Oh, look at you, how have you grown up! Are you really the same little Jon, who used to sleep on my arms?" the boy smiled at him. Then their expressions turned a bit grim. "Your siblings didn´t see the fall, didn´t they?"

"Thanks the gods… and grandmother´s mercy" he rubbed his arms. "I didn´t want to… She was going to expose me to the king. I still have the scroll to prove it…"

"I believe you, little dragon, I believe you" he said, caressing his head. "Where are your siblings, Jon? You should be with them" the boy shook his head. "What´s the matter? Did they say something wrong?"

"Septa said I had something to do with her fall, that I killed her… but I didn´t" yeah, he knew that already. "Sansa believed her and told me to get out, that she never wants to see me again and that I was a murderer. Robb started a fight with her over that and Arya tried to hit her. Soon they were rolling around the ground, pulling their hairs and scratching their faces. I entered in that moment to hold Arya while Robb got Sansa, but things only escalated from that moment" he looked backwards. "I believed they calmed down when I left, so…" he held up the scroll. "Grandmother only killed her because of me."

"No, that´s not true. It´s in no way your fault" especially because mother had thousands of reasons to despise Catelyn, said Benjen on his head. "It´s okay, I will talk to them. Just… stay here while I do that."

"Okay" Jon returned to his lecture once his uncle went to talk with his siblings, returning to his reading. An Old Valyria study, what a strange thing to find in Winterfell´s library. It must have been brought North by Cregan Stark, as he didn´t see his uncle trying to protect his heritage. He didn´t do it for him, after all. Tired, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the scroll Catelyn wrote short before her death. It was addressed to her dear friend P. Who was P? Surely someone close to the usurper, but… who?

-In King´s Landing, a few days later-

"Cat" Petyr Baelish cried of pain for the first time in his life, while Lysa celebrated the death of her sister. He could not bring himself to accompany her, not even with all his brilliant acting abilities honed by years of politics. No. The woman he loved all his life was dead and nothing was going to bring her back to him. And the Starks… the Starks were the one who did this. Those duplicitous direwolves must have wanted to rid themselves of his sweet Cat after she outlived her usefulness for them and threw her from their rookery.

"Petyr! Come to drink with me!" said a happy Lysa, moving like an idiot, clearly drunk.

"In a moment, sweet Lysa" he answered, but he didn´t have any intentions to accompany her. There was only one thought on his head as he raised a fist with his concentrated hate on it. "You are going to pay, Eddard Stark. Even if it costs me the rest of my life, you and your House are going to pay for the lose of my Cat. You will feel my hate, my revenge is going to be something that wasn´t view on the Seven Kingdoms or would be in the following centuries!"

Oh, someone has pissed the master manipulator. What are the Starks going to do now? Someone hide Sansa... or take her to a mental hospital, if they are already created. Arya, little she wolf... life is going to get a little bit easier from now on, just hang on there. Anyway, Lyarra came to stay, and nothing her son could do is going to stop her. And with the fish out of the way, who is going to assesorate young Robb in the War of the Five Kings? Anyway, Jon already has a path to take. He is starting to get off the floor. I would like to see the man he is going to become after he stops self sabotaging. And he had to do it quickly, because the cyvasse game to save the Seven Kingdoms of the King of Night and the Mockingbird Snake has become. Hope you like it. Review!


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